- 2 cups of white sugar
- ½ cup of water
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
- 1 piece of lemon peel
- 12 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
In a pot, combine one cup of sugar, water, lemon juice, and the lemon peel. Stir and let it simmer until it forms a syrup. It will be ready when a continuous thread forms when you lift the spoon. You should obtain about ¾ cup of syrup. Remove the lemon peel and let it cool.
Beat the egg yolks, add the vanilla, and gradually incorporate the syrup. Place this mixture in a saucepan over low heat and stir continuously with a spatula until it thickens. You will notice that it gradually changes to a richer or toasted yellow color. Remove it from the heat and let it cool.
From this point on, there are two ways to do it:
- The traditional or basic recipe:
Using a spoon, scoop the portions of the dough onto a greased plate or tart pan. Refrigerate. Once the dough is well chilled, shape it into small balls and roll them in fine sugar. You should get about 25 small dough pieces.
- The most common recipe in Cuba is as follows:
Add the remaining cup of sugar and mix well. Using a small spoon, take the dough and form small balls, rolling them in fine powdered sugar. You will get about 40 little yolks.
The yemitas are typically decorated with jam, sprinkled with cinnamon, or left plain to showcase their sugary crust. In this case, we also made some with a touch of chocolate cream.
We hope you enjoy this recipe.