Recipe
🍰 DESSERT
Calabaza en Tacha
Pumpkin simmered in dark piloncillo syrup with cinnamon, cloves and orange until deep amber and tender, a pre-Hispanic sweet that is a fixture of the Dia de los Muertos altar.
Mexican · easy · serves 8
prep 15 min · cook 60 min
~290 cal · 3g protein · 76g carbs · 0g fat · 2g fiber · 65g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Calabaza en tacha is candied pumpkin, one of the oldest sweets in Mexico and one of the most common foods placed on the Dia de los Muertos altar. Its name comes from the tacha, the great copper pot in which sugar makers once boiled cane syrup; pumpkins simmered in that dark piloncillo syrup took on its name. The dish goes back to pre-Hispanic times, when the squash was sweetened with agave honey before cane sugar arrived.
The method is simple and forgiving. Wedges of pumpkin, rind left on, are simmered with piloncillo, cinnamon, cloves and orange until the syrup thickens and soaks deep into the flesh, turning it glossy and amber. It is eaten as a dessert, a snack or even breakfast, often in a bowl with a little cold milk poured over.
Because it is naturally free of every common allergen, it is one of the most welcoming things you can set on the table for a large gathering.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 8
2 kg pumpkin or winter squash (calabaza, kabocha or sugar pumpkin), rind on
450 g piloncillo (or dark brown sugar)
2 Ceylon cinnamon sticks
3 whole cloves
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 litre water
Instructions
1
Cut the pumpkin into large wedges, scrape out the seeds and leave the rind on so the pieces hold their shape.
2
Bring the water, piloncillo, cinnamon, cloves, orange zest and juice to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
3
Add the pumpkin, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until nearly tender, about 30 minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Poke the flesh with a fork before cooking so the syrup soaks in deeply.
4
Uncover and simmer another 20 to 30 minutes, spooning syrup over the pieces, until the pumpkin is tender and deep amber and the syrup has thickened to a glaze.
5
Serve warm or at room temperature with the syrup spooned over, and a little cold milk (or plant milk) poured around if you like.
Mexican Dia de los Muertos tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Oaxaca. The ingredients are unusually specific to the ground. Chilhuacle chillies, grown almost entirely within Oaxaca, give mole negro its colour; hoja santa leaves scent the green one; and short, fat bolita corn is ground both for tortillas and for tejate, a cold maize and cacao drink whipped by hand until it foams.
🗺️
Mexico. Chillies are treated as a vocabulary rather than a heat setting, with the same pod carrying one name fresh and another dried, poblano becoming ancho and jalapeno becoming chipotle, each toasted before it is ground. The comal, a flat unglazed griddle, is the busiest surface in the kitchen, used in turn for tortillas, chillies, tomatoes and whole cloves of garlic.
🌍
North America. North America's table began with Indigenous foodways, the "three sisters" of corn, beans, and squash, plus chiles, tomatoes, and cacao, then layered on colonial, African, and immigrant influences. From Mexico's UNESCO-recognized cuisine to the Cajun and Creole pots of Louisiana and the fiery jerk of the Caribbean, the region turns ancient staples into something new. Barbecue, tacos, gumbo, and mole all carry stories of migration and adaptation.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mexico
Cochinita PibilPork marinated blaze-orange in achiote and sour orange, wrapped in banana leaves and roasted until it shreds itself.
EnfrijoladasCorn tortillas bathed in silky black-bean sauce, folded and finished with cheese, crema, and onion.
BirriaJalisco’s chile-marinated slow braise, served as a rich consomé with tortillas, or griddled into dripping quesabirria tacos.
Browse all Mexico recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Store in an airtight container. Most keep 2 to 3 days at room temperature, and longer refrigerated.
Make it a Mexico meal
Pozole VerdeDinner
HorchataDrink
Similar dishes from around the world
Bermuda Rum CakeBermuda
PavlovaNew Zealand
Bolo PretuCuraçao
Tres LechesNicaragua
Sopa BorrachaPanama
BustrengoSan Marino
Cuisine
Diet
Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World
Vegan Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Vegan Desserts from Around the World
Vegetarian Desserts from Around the World
Gluten-Free Desserts from Around the World
Dairy-Free Desserts from Around the World
Nut-Free Desserts from Around the World
Egg-Free Desserts from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Calabaza en Tacha?
Pumpkin simmered in dark piloncillo syrup with cinnamon, cloves and orange until deep amber and tender, a pre-Hispanic sweet that is a fixture of the Dia de los Muertos altar.
Where does Calabaza en Tacha come from?
Calabaza en Tacha is a Mexican dish from Oaxaca, Mexico.
Can Calabaza en Tacha be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Calabaza en Tacha recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Calabaza en Tacha safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Calabaza en Tacha take to make?
About 75 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 8.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.