Bolitas de Leche (Milk Balls), 1937.
Vélez Orozco, Teresa. LCuaderno de Recetas de Teresa Vélez O. Toluca, Mexico: 1937. TX716 .M4 V461 1937. Mexican Cookbook Collection. UTSA Libraries Special Collections. [Digital Surrogate]
During September and October, La Cocina Histórica will feature recipes from recently digitized manuscript cookbooks.
Manuscript cookbooks often include recipes documenting the social networks of their writers as friends, neighbors, and family share their recipes for everyday meals and special treats. In the case of this notebook from 1937, a note on one of the first pages indicates that the recipes were “dictadas y esperimentadas por la Sra María Vde de Chaix. However, it is not clear whether María is a personal friend of the writer or perhaps the instructor for a cooking course.
The bulk of this cookbook consists of traditional desserts, such as Budín de requesón, Brios, Panques, Cubiletes, Pasta de Durazno, Buñuelos, Turron de yemas, and Dulce de Piñon. Below is a recipe for Bolitas de Leche (Milk Balls). Most of the more recent recipes that I found for comparison use either powdered milk or sweetened condensed milk. I suspect the main benefit of either is to lessen the amount of time needed for the milk to reduce to an extent that allows one to shape it into balls.
Bolitas de Leche (00071)
Piloncillo………………..1/2 K. de prieto
Agua………………………1/2 litro
Leche……………………..1/2 litro
Anis……………………….una muñequita
Canela……………………un trocito
Cascara de naranja….un pedacitoM. de He.
Se pone la herbia la leche el pilonsillo y el agua ya que esté disuelto el pilonsillo [a] sa[ea] se cuela se pone al fuego con la muñequita de anis, la canela, y la cascara de naranja ya que esté de punto espeso y que se pueda hacer bolita con los de] dos se [vacea] luego [buelo] [de] alguna cosa que esté [engor] usada.
Milk Balls (00071)
Mexican Brown Sugar Cones…… 1/2 kilogram dark
Water……………………………………..1/2 liter
Milk………………………………………..1/2 liter
Anise………………………………………a little piece (literally little doll)
Cinnamon……………………………….a small cinnamon stick
orange peel……………………………..a little piece
To Prepare:
Bring the milk to a boil. Dissolve the sugar in the water. Add the sugar water, anise, cinnamon, and orange peel to the milk. Continue to cook until the milk mixture becomes very thick and you can form balls from it.[1]
[1] The syntax of this recipe is complicated. I have done my best to draw out the order in which steps should occur. However, I am not entirely certain whether the milk should be brought to a boil and then have the water and sugar added (as written above), or whether all three ingredients should be brought to a boil simultaneously, with the sugar dissolving as the mixture heats.
Cook on very low heat or the milk will burn and use a heavy pan. I rather think a cast iron skillet would work best. I think I would put all three in together but make sure the sugar is dissolved before heating.