"Faux" Pastillas De Leche

I call this "faux" pastillas de leche because it's not the traditional way of making pastillas de leche. That doesn't mean it's actually fake and inedible. Masarap naman, but it's way too sweet for my taste. And for the remaining pastillas de leche purists out there, I have the recipe for the traditional one as well.

Faux Pastillas de Leche

Ingredients
1 medium pack of unsweetened powdered milk (~2.5 cups)
1 small condensed milk
0.5 c sugar for rolling


1. Mix the powdered milk with the condensed milk until it looks like a dough.
2. Form into half-inch balls, then roll into little logs.
3. Roll the logs on the sugar.
4. Cover the logs with parchment paper or even bond paper cut into 2x3-inch rectangles.
5. Wrap the paper-covered pastillas with papel de japon.

You don't have to decorate it -- it's just a wrapper after all. However, I'm a sucker for good packaging, and because it was Sharkteeth's Linggo ng Wika food contribution, I thought making it look nice wouldn't hurt. Instead of the traditional way of cutting the paper into lace-like patterns, I just used my old puncher to decorate the scalloped edges. Ganyan talaga ang mga harassed na nanays, kung ano-anong shortcuts ang natututunang gawin. Hahahaha! I was able to finish this in less than an hour, from the mixing to the arranging in a wicker basket. *Triumph for the harassed nanays!*

For the traditional way of making pastillas de leche, you need 1.5-2 liters of fresh milk and sugar for rolling. Just simmer the milk, stirring continuously until it is reduced to about a quarter or a third of the original quantity of milk. You'd know when it's done when it is starting to look like a ball of soft dough. Remove from the pan and let it cool, then follow steps 2 to 4.

My mother used to make pastillas the traditional way, which entails using the freshest milk from our mama cow. (The fresh milk makes all the difference. It tastes so much better than the "faux" kind.) It's a labor of love -- it takes hours to simmer and reduce the milk, while stirring the whole time. It starts off easy, but when the milk is starting to reduce and ball up, it can be a drag, literally!

I might try doing this one of these days if I'm able to get fresh milk from the local dairy.

♥♥♥

Sharkteeth in her Muslim princess costume for Linggo ng Wika