For any fan of Celia Cruz, the call out of an enthusiastic “Azucar!” in the middle of a song is straight up ICONIC. So much so that a television special put together in her honor was called Ceila Cruz, Azucar! Salsa singers, to this day, will randomly shout it in the middle of a song as a way to pump up the crowd, inspire themselves and in a way pay respect to the legend herself.
Azucar is Spanish for sugar, and though the import of Celia Cruz’s usage of the word is relatively innocuous, its ties to colonization, corporatization and revolution cannot be denied.
In Celia’s own words, it was a case of happenstance and humor. She was having a cafecito with her husband when the waiter asked her if she wanted sugar. She replied, you know how strong our (Cuban) coffee is, of course I want my cafecito with sugar (con Azucar!). When she told the story at her show later that evening, all the folks with the inside scoop had a good laugh - word got around and soon at every show the audience would ask her to tell the story. She got bored of it and decided to switch it up, announcing herself to her audience or ending the show for the night with a vibrant cry of Azucar.
Sugarcane is not native to Latin America (the Caribbean included), but as it has been a part of the ecological landscape since its introduction by the Portuguese to Brazil in the 1500’s, I’d say it’s earned its Western Hemisphere street cred.
A brief and simplified overview of Cuba’s relationship to the cash crop has it becoming one of the wealthiest countries producing sugarcane in the 19th Century after a couple of hundred years of toiling and tilling on the backs of enslaved peoples. Cuba’s emancipation from Spain in 1898 and its formation of a republic in 1902 made it a desirable investment opportunity for the United States, a working relationship that lasted until Fidel Castro came into power in the late 1950’s.
Celia Cruz was introduced to the Cuban public as a singer for the group Sonoro Mantacera, which played several styles of Afro Cuban music. She sang with them for 15 years, before going solo - a moment in time that coincided with her exile from her homeland. Though devastated, Celia persevered and soon became booked and busy in the newly, organically developed musical style of Salsa that came straight out of New York.
If we are to go by the lore of the American Dream, Celia Cruz’s contribution to music is the most American of experiences. Driven from her beloved home by a government she didn’t agree with and welcomed into the greatest city in the world by fellow exiles, immigrants and dreamers, she held on to her identity and embraced the possibilities.
Cuban Style Tres Leches
Ingredients
5 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup butter 1 stick, melted but not hot
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder aluminum-free
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ cans sweetened condensed milk21 oz
1 ½ cans evaporated milk 18 oz
1 ½ cups whole milk 12 oz
2 cups heavy cream 16 oz
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ºF (176ºC).
Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, add eggs, ¾ cup sugar, and vanilla. Use an electric mixer and mix on high for about 3 minutes. It will become pale and thick.
Add in the melted butter and flour. And before mixing, directly on top of the flour, add the baking powder and salt. With a spoon, mix the dry ingredients together first just to disperse the salt and baking powder into the flour. Don’t over-mix. Pour batter into baking dish and bake until a fork inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 25 minutes (if using a metal baking dish it may be done much sooner).
While the cake is in the oven take a medium bowl and whisk together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and the whole milk.
Right when the cake comes out of the oven, poke the top of it many times with a fork and then pour half of the milk mixture over the whole cake. The milk will become absorbed. Then go ahead and slowly pour more milk until the cake doesn't absorb anymore. This may be the whole mixture or a little less but make sure to wait and see if the milk gets absorbed before pouring more over the cake.
Allow cake to cool before topping with whipped cream.
xoxo,
