CATALINAS OR CUCAS: RICH VENEZUELAN DESSERT

Hello my dear friends. Today I want to share with you a delicious recipe of one of the most traditional and emblematic desserts of my country Venezuela. It is the popular "Catalinas Criollas" also known as "Paledonias or Cucas Negras". It is said that this majestic delicacy comes from a mixture of cultures that resulted from combining Spanish and Arabic culinary art, as this gastronomic heritage originally consisted of soft biscuits with honey, but when they arrived in this region they began to be sweetened with papelón and some criollo spices that gave it that particular flavor.

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Previously it was very common to find these delights in the villages' bodeguitas, as many people undertook this gastronomic legacy by creating their distribution companies of the different criollo sweets of each region where the famous Cuca always stands out. But with the current crisis that Venezuela is going through, all this type of activities have been paralyzed, either because of the scarcity of the ingredients for its elaboration or because of the lack of transport for its commercialization, which has significantly affected the loss of this tradition, its delight and tasting among the sweet lovers of this beautiful terroir.

That's why I want to share each of the steps for those who want to prepare them easily in their homes from anywhere in the world:

Ingredients:

-For the mass:

• 2 cups of wheat flour.
• ½ tablespoon of cinnamon powder.
• ½ tablespoon of clove in spice.
• ½ teaspoon of baking soda.
• 1 cup of paper.
• ½ teaspoon of ginger.
• 3 tablespoons of butter.
• 1 tablespoon of oil (to lubricate the mold).

-For the paper molasses:

• ½ cup of water.
• 1 cup of papelón (chopped into small pieces).
• 6 spice sticks.

Preparation process:

• Once we have all the ingredients at hand. The first thing to do is the mole of papelón for that, add the foil with the water and the clavitos in a large pot and place it on the fire until it boils and dissolves all the paper. Then it is strained to eliminate the nails or any solid residue it contains.

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• On the other hand is added in a large container the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and baking soda, and beat until they are able to integrate all the ingredients.

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• After this mixture add the butter and beat constantly to achieve a fairly uniform consistency. (The butter should be at room temperature).

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• Finally add the syrup to the mixture and stir well until a smooth dough is obtained.

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• Once the dough has reached its consistency, proceed to grease a large tray with the tablespoon of oil. And with the help of a little floured hands, begin to make balls with the dough and crush until you get a circular shape about 1 centimeter thick, and the size you like the most. What if I recommend taking into account is that they should be placed separated from each other in the tray with a minimum space of 3 centimeters as they tend to grow when cooked. And then they are introduced into the preheated oven at 300 degrees for half an hour. And when they are ready, they are immediately removed with a spatula.

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• And ready. You can already taste this Caribbean delicacy.

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As you can see it is quite easy and fast to elaborate as a result we will obtain some pretty Catalinas or Cucas of dark appearance and soft but firm texture, with a very intense and sweet aroma and flavor that makes it very special, do not miss to try this Creole delicacy. I hope you are encouraged to do them. Greetings.