So we had a swap meet for all the locavores to barter or sell any specialty items they might have growing in their yards. I was hoping my bananas and grapes would be ripe in time, but it's been so hot and dry in New Orleans they just aren't quite ready.

Then I realized there would be a need for sugary sweets--if I'm having a hard time coming up with goodies for myself, then the not so baking inclined probably aren't having much luck either. I made some pralines, pecan macarons and some caramels too, which I'll hopefully post soon.

Canillas de leche are a Guatemalan candy that I usually only get to enjoy when my aunt comes back from Guatemala with her stash of specialty candies. I'm pretty excited my mom and I thought about them when I was brainstorming things I could make--she's uber excited that I know how to make them now, which actually could be very dangerous. I'd say they're like a Guatemalan fudge.

Anyway, hope you like them, and special shout out to Ms. Gamble for helping me translate the recipe. FYI, only do this when you're up for the workout and have a good two hours of mostly undivided time to spare. I didn't make these for the swap because they just take too long to make, but if you have the time they are well worth the effort.

Guatemalan Canillas de Leche
makes about 40-50 pieces, depending on size

Ingredients
1 liter (33.8 oz or just over 1 quart) whole milk
2 pounds (4 cups) sugar

Instructions

1. Place milk and sugar in a pot and cook over low to medium heat. Should be stirred continually until it forms a light tan color and is thick. (This may take up to 3 hours.) During the first hour or so of cooking, you will see it start to change color. It needs to be stirred often here, but not necessarily continually, just to make sure it is not burning. Once you start getting the taste and look of sweetened condensed milk, the mixture needs more supervision. It is ready to take off the heat when the bits of mixture that get caught on the upper portions of the pot start to crust over.
2. Remove from heat and stir mixture with a spoon until it is lighter in color and very thick. It is ready to pour out when the mixture is a bit doughy and very hard to stir.
3. Pour on towaxed paper and cut to shape and size desired. Let them cool and store them in an airtight container at room temperature.  

Crumby Notes:

• Don't half the recipe. I did and I was disappointed with the output compared to the amount of time put in. Trust me, you....er...someone will eat them and they store very well.
• None of the recipes I looked at actually gave time frames or candy temperatures, just more like "do it until it looks/feels right." I'll try to do an update the next time I make them and take more pictures of the stages so you can gauge when it's time to take them off the heat.

~Enjoy!~