Papelon con Limon

My Brazilian friend grows limão 'Cravo,' selling them at an amazing price of $2 a dozen. They produce copious amounts of mildly-acidic, vaguely lime-y juice. The flavor is somewhere on the tart end of a lemon-lime-orange. While I have trouble getting more than a tablespoon of juice from a lemon, the slightly larger limão 'Cravo' will easily yield a third to a quarter cup. VERY juicy.

I ran across a mention of this popular Venezuelan drink, and found this recipe. (Papelon is, I gather, the same as piloncillo, available everywhere Mexican food is sold.) Since I have no idea how much a panela weighs, I'm going to work by logic here: I use a cup of sugar to make a bit more than a quart of lemonade, let's work on the assumption that eight ounces of piloncillo will sweeten this drink.

Papelon con Limon: "Papelon con Limon"
Ingredientes;
1 panela de papelón
1 litro de leche
2 limones

Preparacion: Se rompe el papelón a martillazos. Se pone a remojar toda una noche en 1 litro de leche. Al dia siguiente, que ya se ha disuelto, se le agrega el jugo de limón. se sirve frío.

Ingredients:
8 oz of piloncillo
1 quart of milk
Juice of 2 limão 'Cravo,'

Crush the piloncillo, and let it dissolve into a quart of milk overnight. (I'd help the process along the way with a whirl in the blender.) The next day, once the piloncillo has dissolved, add to the mix the lemon juice. Serve cold.

Going to try it tonight!

Tonight: Hmmmm. Hm. Um. Hmmm... Here's what I have to say about it. It is unlike anything I've ever had. Molasses, citrus, and milk. It's not bad. Refreshing in its own way. Very South American. Smooth.

I would add far more lemon juice than advertised in the recipe above: I used two tablespoons in my smallish glass, and felt that citrus could have played an even stronger role. Maybe I'd try it with Sugar in the Raw rather than piloncillo. I like molasses, but the bitter punch of it does not fare well with the acid from the lemons.

I need to try this with rum...