A tomato-based dessert? Well, tomato is a fruit, after all, and this tasty, simple, interesting Dulce de tomate dessert is a great dulcito to end your weekend lunches. Let me show how easy it is to make this tomato preserve, and why our tomato preserve recipe is so popular.
By - Reviewed: . Original: Mar 29, 2011
Why we ❤️ it
Cooking and sharing it with friends and family is a joy; it should always be a joy. Dulce de Tomate (Tomato Jam) is a great dish for learning and sharing. It is easy to prepare, very forgiving, exotic, and delicious.
Who can resist a nicely presented jar of delicious jam? For many people outside the Dominican Republic, a jar of tomato jam will certainly be a surprise, though it should not be so because, after all, tomatoes are fruits.
What's dulce de tomate?
Dulce de tomate is a tomato preserve cooked in a thin spiced syrup. It's a simple, humble dessert, typically served after lunch (our main daily meal).
Different dulce de tomates exist in different countries, Argentina, for example, where it's made into a jam and served over bread. There's a Colombian Dulce de tomate de árbol which is made with "tomate de árbol" an entirely different fruit from tomato.
Dulce de tomate (tomato jam).
Picking the right tomatoes
The most common tomatoes for Dulce de tomate are tomate barceló, or plum tomatoes, and tomaticos or tomate cereza (cherry tomatoes). I prefer cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes because the flesh is sweeter and more tender, closer to what you'd expect from a fruit.
Plum tomatoes are "meatier", and require a little less work, so if that's your preference, you can go with that too.
Top tips
- Using plum tomatoes: If you decide to use plum tomatoes, you'll need to adapt the recipe a bit. Instead of squeezing out the seeds, you can cut the tomatoes and scoop the seeds out with a teaspoon.
- Sweetness: The amount of sugar you use is up to you, this is typically very sweet, but I prefer it less sweet. You can try adding 3 quarters of the sugar and leave the rest to add at the end to reach your desired sweetness. This recipe yields a traditional level of sweetness.
- Spices: You can switch the star anise for cloves (6 whole cloves) or half a teaspoon of ground cloves.
- Raisins: Adding raisins is not a universal thing, so feel free to leave them out if you don't like them. You can use sultanas instead of raisins if you like them better.
- Tomato jam: To make this into a tomato jam you can spread on bread, just keep simmering until the tomatoes are very tender and the liquid has reduced completely. And leave out the raisins.
About this recipe
There is no single recipe for Dulce de tomate, and different people put different touches on theirs. This is my favorite recipe, based on my mom's - with minor changes.
How does your family make it? Please tell me in the comments.
Video
Recipe
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Dulce de Tomate [Video+Recipe] Tomato Preserve
Ingredients
- 2 pound cherry tomato, [1.4 kg]
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise
- 2 cups sugar, (you may use less)
- 1 cup raisins, or sultanas (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Cutting tomatoes
Make a superficial cross cut on the opposite side of the tomato stems.Rinse the tomatoes.
2. Boil tomatoes
- Heat the tomatoes in abundant boiling water (enough to cover them). Remove from the heat when the peel starts to come off.Let the tomatoes cool down to room temperature.
3. Peel tomatoes
- Peel the tomatoes and discard the skin. Squeeze the tomatoes to extract the seeds, into a sieve, with a clean bowl underneath to catch the juice.Strain the seeds to get all the juice you can and add the juice to the tomatoes. Discard the seeds.
4. Make syrup
- In a saucepan, boil the cinnamon, star anise, sugar, raisins, and salt over low heat in a cup of water until the water becomes lightly colored.Add the tomatoes and the juice.
5. Simmer
- Boil over medium heat, stirring frequently, until you reach the desired consistency (with a light syrup to serve as dessert, no liquid to make it into jam).
6. Serve
Remove the cinnamon and star anise. Let the tomatoes cool to room temperature.Chill before serving.
Cook's Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
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More dulces en almíbar desserts
Dulces en almíbar, or fruit in spiced syrup are very popular in the Dominican Republic, and we have a lot of recipes on our blog.
Try Dulce de cereza, made with acerola, Dulce de cajuil, made with cashew apple, Dulce de lechosa, with green papaya, Casquitos de guayaba (with guava shells), and the unusual Dulce de tayota, with chayote.
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