"Say it soft..."

This weekend Stephanie H. and Adam F. planned a fiesta. It was supposed to fall on Cinco de Mayo, but was pushed back to the 4th (this evening) when Stephanie found out about a business trip to Tennessee. This was convenient for me because I was also leaving town on the 5th, and the change in dates allowed me to make it to the fiesta.

I've rediscovered lemon cake recently, and wondered if there was any possible way I could swing lemon cake as a Latin American dish. So I did a web search on "pastel de limón," and discovered what appears to be a very popular, and very easy, Mexican concoction. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but when I saw that it called for a package of María cookies, I couldn't resist.

When I studied abroad in Spain, our breakfast almost always consisted of milk (from a box), orange juice (from a box), María cookies, and maybe a Magdalena (a little, sweet muffin of ambiguous taste). I was a fan of cereal and milk, and while I quickly took to many other Spanish dishes, like paella (even the cheap kind from a box) and Spanish tortilla, I missed my American breakfasts for the entire two months. My roommate bought several packages of María cookies to take back with her to the U.S. and I thought she was crazy. I never wanted to eat another one again.

But I felt kind of nostalgic when I read the recipe. That evening I went on a quest for the María cookies that I had not eaten in almost ten years. Kroger disappointed, and Hiller's had rolls of "Marie" cookies made in England that looked close enough to the real thing, but cost $4.50 for a too-small package. I finally found what I was looking for at Meijer, which has a substantial international aisle. I bought two packages, at $0.69 each. Which is about what they're worth (that's why we ate so many of them). María cookies aren't really that special. They're thin and round and more cracker than cookie, but still sweet. I guess they taste a little like animal crackers. But I like animal crackers. And when I opened the package in the car and took one out, I discovered that, if I'm not eating them for breakfast, I like María cookies, too. And that I kind of miss them.

(When I got home and made my dessert I absent-mindedly broke a piece off a cookie and gave it to Jin. It turns out that Jin, too, likes María cookies. In fact, he likes them so much he can hardly contain himself.)

So then it was on to the dessert. I have to admit I had my doubts, but the recipe got rave reviews all over the web, and when I took it to the fiesta, I got lots of compliments. Jody even said it was the best lemon dessert she had ever tasted. And it was so easy! So easy that I'm not even going to write it up as a recipe, I'm just going to tell you how to do it. It requires four ingredients: María cookies (I used about a package and a half), a can of sweetened condensed milk, a can of evaporated milk, and half a cup of fresh-squeezed lemon juice.


First you mix the canned milks and the juice together, then spread a layer of cookies on the bottom of a dish. Pour a thin layer of lemon stuff over the cookies, layer more cookies on top, pour on more lemon stuff, and keep going until you've used up all the lemon stuff. You should end with lemon stuff, not cookies. Let it set in the refrigerator for at least half an hour (mine set for almost 24 hours), and then cut and serve.



When you're putting it together, it doesn't look all that impressive. But once you pour the rest of the canned milk mixture on and let it set, it's really good! I thought it tasted kind of like key lime pie, but lemony (and more cakey). Seriously, Americans have not fully utilized the wonder that is sweetened condensed milk.