Doce de papaia

🥭 Firm ripe papaya gently cooked with sugar, cinnamon and lime, served as a chilled or warm fresh dessert.

Ingredients

• 600 g ripe but firm papaya, peeled and deseeded weight
• 120 g sugar
• 100 ml water initially
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 1 lime, using 1–2 teaspoons juice to taste
• A little extra hot water if needed

Preparation

Wash papaya before cutting. Peel, remove all seeds and weigh 600 g flesh. Dice evenly about 1 cm.

Gently heat water and sugar in a heavy pan, stirring to dissolve. Add cinnamon stick.

Add papaya, bring to a simmer and cook over low heat partially covered about 20 minutes. Stir gently to retain some pieces.

Uncover and continue 10–15 minutes, stirring, until fruit is tender and syrup coats it. Add a little hot water if drying before cooked.

Remove cinnamon. Off heat add one teaspoon lime juice, taste the cooked dessert and add the second only if needed.

Divide into four small ramekins or a clean shallow container for cooling. Syrup thickens slightly as it cools.

Serve warm or cool quickly and refrigerate within two hours. This is a refrigerated fresh dessert, not a room-temperature canning method.