Habichuelas con dulce

Ingredients

Bean base

• 500 gdried red kidney beans, soaked overnight and drained
• 2 Lwater
• half tsp salt

Sweet spiced milk

• 800 mlcoconut milk
• 400 mlevaporated milk
• 250 ggranulated sugar, or to taste
• 3cinnamon sticks
• 8whole cloves
• half a nutmeg, grated
• half tsp salt
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• 4 tbspraisins

Additions

• 500 gsweet potato (batata), peeled and cut into 3 cm cubes
• 60 gbutter
• 24galletas de leche (small Dominican milk biscuits), to serve

Directions

1. Boil the soaked beans in the 2 L of water with the salt for 50–60 minutes until they are so soft they collapse under a spoon. They must be overcooked, not al dente.
2. Blend the beans with all their cooking liquid until completely smooth, working in batches.
3. Pass the puree through a fine sieve, pressing hard with a ladle, and throw away the skins left behind. This sieving is what turns a bean soup into a dessert, and it is the step people skip and regret.
4. Return the smooth liquid to a heavy pot with the coconut milk, evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg and salt.
5. Bring to a bare simmer over medium-low heat and cook 25–30 minutes, stirring almost constantly with a wooden spoon and scraping the base, or it will catch and taste burnt all the way through.
6. Add the sweet potato cubes and simmer 15–20 minutes more, until they are tender but still holding their shape, and the liquid coats the back of the spoon and leaves a clear line when you draw a finger through it.
7. Stir in the raisins, butter and vanilla in the last 5 minutes and take it off the heat. It thickens further as it cools.
8. Lift out the cinnamon sticks and cloves and discard them. Serve warm or fridge-cold in cups or glasses, with milk biscuits floated on top or dunked in.

Technique

• This is Holy Week food. Dominican households make vats of it on Good Friday, and it is drunk from a cup rather than eaten from a plate.
• Do not stop stirring during the milk stage. The sugar and coconut milk catch on the base of the pot very easily, and a scorched batch cannot be rescued.
• Taste for sweetness at the end, not the start. The sweet potato and raisins add more sugar than you expect as they cook.

Substitutions

• No batata: ordinary orange sweet potato works, though it is wetter and sweeter. Some families use small boiled dumplings instead.

Variations

• A version thickened with 100 g of cooked white rice blended into the puree, giving a much denser, spoonable cream.
• Habichuelas con dulce heladas: frozen in cups on a stick as a Holy Week ice lolly.

History

Sweet cream of red beans with milk, sugar and spices, made only around Lent and Holy Week and unique to the Dominican Republic.

Frequently asked questions

What is Habichuelas con dulce?

Habichuelas con dulce is a dessert from Dominican Republic: sweet spiced cream-of-beans dessert for Lent. Sweet cream of red beans with milk, sugar and spices, made only around Lent and Holy Week and unique to the Dominican Republic.

How long does Habichuelas con dulce take to make?

Habichuelas con dulce takes 20 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Habichuelas con dulce?

Yes, within limits. No batata: ordinary orange sweet potato works, though it is wetter and sweeter. Some families use small boiled dumplings instead.

What is the most important thing to get right in Habichuelas con dulce?

Boil the soaked beans in the 2 L of water with the salt for 50–60 minutes until they are so soft they collapse under a spoon. They must be overcooked, not al dente.