Your Candy Needs Spice
One of the benefits of moving northeast to Texas was learning how to add a little spice to things, like sprinkling tagine on watermelon or enjoying mangonade on a hot day. The same applies to candies: you should try the luxury of dulces enchilados – sweets coated in a spicy, sweet, sour and spicy mixture. Dulces enchilados are popular in Mexico and Texas , and are becoming more popular elsewhere thanks to TikTok and Instagram. And once you try them, you’ll understand why it’s so hard to go back to regular sweets later.
The good news is that dulces enchilados are fairly easy to make on your own, requiring just a few ingredients. You will need powdered sugar, regular sugar, zama, and a spice mix of your choice, the most common of which is tajine seasoning.
Chamoy is a popular condiment made from apricot, chili peppers, salt, and lime juice that is added to foods such as dried fruits, fresh fruits, mangonades, and candies. Tajín (it’s not just a blend of spices) makes its own line of suede, while a number of other brands make their own.
How to cook dulces enchilados
Making dulces enchilados means making a paste to coat the candies and then adding the spice mix of your choice. As The Saucy Kitchen suggests, it’s best to opt for sweet and savory candies like gummy worms, gummy rings, gummy bears, Skittles, Gushers, and the like. (Chocolate or milk candy is usually not the best choice.)
To cover, mix suede and powdered sugar in a 1:1 ratio. For a small serving – about one serving of Skittles – two tablespoons of suede and two tablespoons of powdered sugar are enough. Blend everything together until a translucent red paste forms, then add the mixture to the candy of your choice, stirring until completely coated. After that, just add the spices in the desired amount. You can sprinkle some on top or mix it directly into the caramel mixture.
Daring Kitchen suggests mixing half a cup of tajine spice mix with 1/3 cup sugar. Personally, I skipped the sugar and just used regular Tajín seasoning, but this may vary depending on your own taste buds. Once that’s done, you’ll want to either eat it right away or store it in an airtight container.