Pastillas de Leche ng Kalabaw / Carabao Milk Candy
Pastillas de Leche are one of my favorite native delicacies or sweets. 
Almost certainly influenced by Spaniards who were stationed here and looking to replicate something sweet and dairy like from back home, pastillas are made of just milk and sugar. The milk and sugar are boiled together until thickened, then cooled and formed by hand into little mini-logs that are often rolled in more granulated sugar before they are individually packed in cellophane and paper. If the mixture is allowed to boil to the point that it starts to get darker in color, almost moccha like, this is known as “tostado.” Bulacan seemed to be the epicenter for pastillas production but lately some of the best pastillas made from pure carabao milk come from Nueva Ecija. Some commercially made pastillas shortcut their recipes by adding condensed milk that results in a faster cooking process but also an extra sweet outcome.
Because its ingredients are so simple, the finest possible quality milk and sugar is absolutely imperative. 
Lately, I find that the pastillas de leche made with pure carabao’s milk has far more character, flavor and soul than many of the cow’s milk versions. I have two sources for carabao’s milk pastillas. First, in the photo up top, is a Pastillas de Leche made at the Philippine Carabao Center at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Munoz, Nueva Ecija. The candy is soft, extra smooth, creamy and rich in taste. While sweet, it is not overpoweringly so. And better yet, it is not rolled in additional granulated sugar which often interferes with the pure taste of the milk/sugar mixture. While it comes in rather small portions, it is heavenly. A small package of pastillas holds about 20 candies and costs about P50 pesos retail. They come beautifully wrapped in cellophane, followed by white paper then white Japanese paper that is expertly folded at the ends.
The second source for carabao’s milk pastillas is the DVF Farms (Dairy Farms) pastillas from Talavera, 
Nueva Ecija. These pastillas also have great flavor and a smoother texture than cow’s milk pastillas but they do come coated in sugar which tends to take away from the purity of the delicacy. These are readily available in several farmer’s markets and come in the attractive packaging seen in the third photo at right. The individual candies of DVF are larger than those of the CLSU pastillas and also come well wrapped and boxed. Pastillas tend to get old rather quickly and I would not keep them more than a few days after you purchase them. Mind you, that has never been a problem in our house as several boxes of pastillas can be consumed in less than a day!
Mexico, Pampanga also produces heavenly pastillas but they don’t get to Manila - finished off as soon as cooked.
Some even shortcut the process by adding powdered milk! They don’t actually taste dismal but the purity of the carabao’s milk is ruined.
March 28th, 2005Pastillas making is the main industry in San Miguel, Bulacan.
April 4th, 2005Sevilla’s in San Miguel, Bulacan has come up with pastillas de leche in plastic tubs. A spoonful melting in your mouth is absolutely heavenly!
April 16th, 2005Oh my gosh, that sounds positively like pastillas-overload in the making. Will have to try that someday.
April 16th, 2005Silay, Neg.Occ. has its version of pastillas de leche and we call it “Dulce Gatas”.
April 16th, 2005Felicci’s in Olongapo City offers three kinds of pastillas de leche, the soft type from Bulacan, the hard, brittle one from Zambales, and a chewy type with flavors like mango, macapuno and cheese.
April 18th, 2005Sevilla’s has a booth in Market Market. They have the pastillas in microwavable containers I think it’s 50php each.
April 24th, 2005I miss those pastillas, especially the “tostado” ones.
April 26th, 2005Can I order on-line from the CLSU or DVF Farms?
pastillas products were delicious and a good form of sweets.
August 14th, 2005but, here is a new innovative product out of pastillas. i myself will have a project feasibility study about producing pastillas out of papaya as flavoring.. dont you think its a good idea???
I suppose there are plain milk pastillas, ube pastillas, etc. so why not try a papaya pastillas? Extracting the papaya “flavor” would be interesting but I haven’t seen it in anything else… why the study? Just get into a kitchen and try it out and see if it works…
August 14th, 2005I just love the soft, melt-in-the-mouth pastillas de leche from San Miguel, Bulacan. My late mother used to be my supplier. I live in New York and she never failed to send me a box or two whenever she had an opportunity for a “pakidala.” She must have had her own suppliers because she never had any problem finding it. I get disappointed when someone gives me what is claimed as pastillas de leche and it turns out to be the hard kind. Now that my mother is gone, I have to rely on my relatives to satisfy my craving. Hello, relatives and friends in Manila and Davao - are you listening?
December 16th, 2005You are right marketman. The taste of pastillas made from carabao’s milk is vastly different from cow’s milk. The texture and aftertaste of the carabao milk pastillas is certainly superior. Today, my sister and I savored the taste of pastillas de leche which we received by rush package and felt that christmas has finally arrived!
December 19th, 2005io, glad you have finally tried pastillas made from carabao’s milk…now you can’t go back to cow’s milk versions again…
December 20th, 2005Raquels special pastillias taste sooo… good they are so adicting
May 2nd, 2006I just got a pasalubong of Sevilla Sweets Pastillas De Leche, made from ofcourse, Carabao’s milk. They are soooooo good!
May 20th, 2006The commercialized pastillas from a well known bake shop, starts with letter G——-, is no comparisson to Sevilla’s. Is there anyway I can order online and have it imported to the US? Sevilla Sweets are you listening!!!!
Jessica, I hope someone else knows if you can order these online but I am not aware of any sellers of this product. The product has a very short shelf life and it is unlikely that anyone has obtained FDA approval for small quantity exports so I suspect your only bet is pasalubongs or bilins from relatives… The best pastillas are eaten with 5-7 days of their manufacture…
May 21st, 2006dulce gatas!!! it’s a pity that there’s no establishment here that sell this decadent Negrense dessert!!! compared to pastillas de carabao, dulce gatas has a sweeter more yummier caramelly taste.
May 31st, 2006juls, if I am not mistaken, I think a reader a while back said someone at Market!Market! Mall was selling dulce gatas in small containers (at one of the regional stalls)… you may want to check it out the next time you are in the vicinity.
June 1st, 2006Hi Marketman! Do you mind sharing your recipe? I have a bottle of Carabao’s milk that will soon reach its expiration … I don’t want it to go to waste, sayang naman! Thanks!
June 29th, 2006cupcake diva, from what I understand, put a liter of milk into a pan over medium heat, stir till your arm falls off, and the milk is reduced to 1/4 the volume, add about 1/3 cup of sugar and some grated dayap peel and cook some more until firmish and roll on a bed of sugar into your desired shapes…I have to try it soon…
June 30th, 2006can u featre the scientific description of the carabao?
July 5th, 2006Not unless readers want to eat it…I jest, of course. Sorry, don’t know too much about carabaos…
July 5th, 2006hi. i love eating pastillas out of carabao milk. may i have a copy of your feasibility study. i would like to try the product if it would be profitable in my community. thanks.
July 6th, 2006edz, may I ask how you could have come to the conclusion that I have a feasibility study? I don’t. I just write about food.
July 6th, 2006hi MM!! i miss pastillas de leche a lot.. my grandmother is from san miguel bulacan but i never had the chance to watch/learn how it is done but we always bring home several boxes and like what you said, it can be easily consumed in less than a day..where can i find good pastillas de leche here in manila???
July 10th, 2006hi Marketman,
July 28th, 2006Would you know where I can get carabao milk here in Metro Manila or in provinces near Metro Manila? Hopefully in bulk orders? Thanks :)
Jonathan, there are several retail sellers of carabao milk at the Salcedo market and other upper end markets…perhaps you can check thme out and ask if they do bulk sales…they are pricey already, however…
July 28th, 2006Everyone! Sevilla Sweets definitely has the best pastillas de leche ever! They always use the freshest carabao’s milk from Nueva Ecija. They have branches in Shoppesville Greenhills, Market! Market!, Tiendesitas, Sta. Lucia, SM Mall of Asia, SM Marilao, Bulancan, Shangri-la Mall, EDSA, Robinson’s Galleria, they also have a branch in Cebu and of course their main branch is in San Miguel, Bulacan. This is really worth your money! I mean every single bite of it! Also, they have other flavors of pastillas like Langka, Cheese and Ube. You should also try their Macapuno Balls! YUMMY!!!! Too bad they still don’t have any site yet for the balikbayans to actually purchase this online.. But I really hope that they will be able to market their products online to satisfy our fellow Filipinos abroad! Right? =)
August 10th, 2006Hi there. Firstly I must thank you all for such wonderful insight into the true filipino culture. I didnt think I was bad at all but after reading all the comments I felt rather uneducated about my own culture. Anyway the reason I found this website is because I’m actually looking for a Yema recipe. I was born and raised in Australia but we visited Philippines quite frequently and I love these things….as well as the Pastillas De Leche. Anyway Im having a bunch of my girlfriends over for dinner tommorrow night and thought I’d whip up something new and yummy for them to try….but now that I have googled recipes I seem far more confused. I have never seen or even heard of yema balls, I only know the ones wrapped in Cellophane. After comparing recipes it seems that they are so similar and now I feel stuck. Help! Sorry to be a pain! xoxo Sheila
August 14th, 2006Sheila, yema as shown here, http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/yema is the egg yolk mixture/ball but coated in caramelized sugar. This is the version you sometimes see wrapped in cellophane. It is considered the older or more classic way to present it and the caramel neutralizes and balances the egginess of the yema. I also tried a fairly well-thought of chef’s recipe for yema here… http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/yemas-egg-yolk-and-sugar-wonder if you want to give it a go. Yema balls as a name is a dumb one, frankly as translated they would mean yolk balls or something to that effect. It’s just that many serve the egg yolk mixture in a ball form to make it look like an egg yolk… Thanks for visiting Marketmanila!
August 15th, 2006im planning to make a small sid sideline bussiness which is pastillas de leche,coz easy to made and wise buget for a starting woman like me.isn’t?
September 25th, 2006armie, as long as the ones you make taste extra good, made from fresh carabao’s milk and sugar then you may have a good product. However, remember that pastillas spoil or get hard pretty fast and you should have a way to distribute or market them properly… good luck!
September 25th, 2006Yup it’s good to have… like that
That’s gonna be delicious and nutritious
Carabaos milk were so delicious,
Maybe I might put up business in the future…
September 26th, 2006How about ALING CELING’S SPECIAL PASTILLAS de LECHE in Bayanihan,Gapan Nueva Ecija,the taste is so good and its made from pure and fresh carabao’s milk and sugar. Try it to believe it….
November 25th, 2006Hi! There’s this pastillas called Galaxy. I think it’s from Sta. Maria, Bulacan. It’s quite different from Sevilla’s kasi it’s not so soft pero it’s very chewy and tastes good, it’s a lot cheaper also. Nakakaubos kami ng 4 packs while watching tv.
March 21st, 2007Sevilla Sweets has branches in Greenhills and Shangrila Mall. I love their pastillas, I always get them for my relatives abroad. They are by far the softest, creamiest and biggest pastillas I’ve tried.
May 16th, 2007Sa tingin ko pa lang ang sarap na kahit hindi ko pa natitikman yan kaz so very good oh hindi lang very good kung di excellent ang paggawa nyu ng pastillas.. napatingin lang me d2 sa website Coz i try to make another business recipe like this pastillas…
June 20th, 2007More people are say to vend me a pastillas home made. my question me to this company of pastillas kung pede bang mag Invest Coz i’m a business man .. In college i take the course relating to the business to improve my self in my busines…
What store or mall to buy this product?
So very interesting to taste it…
I went to Davao for a vacation,and at the airport,i was able to buy a few packs of durian pastillas & jars of durian jam of GA-LOR FARMS.I was so sorry not to be able to buy more and bring them back home here in the US,because when i tasted it, it’s so very yummyyyyyyy!!!!!!…. really homemade, filled with so much fresh durian from their own farm in Kidapawan,Cotabato.
July 11th, 2007its delicious and soooh sweet..hehe
July 23rd, 2007hey im a marketing student and im currently working on some research for my project which is making a marketing plan with fresh carabao milk as a product.
thanks for the info here in your site coz it gives me a lot of info..
but hey aside from pastillas and kesong puti(cottage cheese)..
what else can you suggest as a good variety or other by products of fresh carabao’s milk???
given a situation that your shelf life is a month.. (tho according to what ive read its just good for 5 to 7 days)
thanks in advance for those who can suggest ideas..
its a big help guys
you can email me thru
macviray@gmail.com
thanks in advance:D
August 15th, 2007I live in New York City where one is supposed to be able to purchase anything and alas, I’ve not found a location where I can purchase carabao milk candy anywhere! And even online I’ve drawn a blank. Any online exporters you might lead me to?
Also: my fav milk candy has always been the flat rectangular individually tissue-wrapped no outside sugar variety from Tuguegarao Cagayan — “Alcala Valley Sweets” (844-3534). Simply divine.
September 15th, 2007I’ve just come upon the best pastillas de leche that I’ve ever had so far. In Alabang. One orders them via text thru a guy named Mike (details in my blog) - he has the pastillas made fresh upon order and then delivers the box. It’s kinda pricier than the regular pastillas de leche, but worth it, I think. It’s called Miggy’s Jumbo Pastillas.
September 16th, 2007i eat pastillas all the time. the most conveneient is Sevilla’s because I can buy fr Shang mall and Greenhills and Market Market. I also tried Sitsirya’s ala cow label (hard but ok na if you are craving; found in Mercury Drug) Sitsirya’s individually wrapped long ones were chewy. Not bad…
October 17th, 2007I just recently came back from a short vacation from Philippines, bought a lot of “Sevilla’s Sweet’s Pastillas De Leche” for presents or pasalubong. OH MY GOD! I was so embarassed when my husband bought it and they found that each piece were with mold on it. I did not believe hi, until I opened a fresh box (which was expensive too!) and was ready for a taste when I saw it was indeed molded. How can I report this and so others won’t be embarassed like I was!
October 31st, 2007Frances, you should inform the outlet that you bought it from, that is awful. Having said that, pastillas really should be refrigerated if you are eating them 1-2 days after you purchase them. They do not keep for long in the tropical heat and humidity…they are made from milk, after all.
October 31st, 2007i am from san miguel bulacan, i am now based in caloocan city and now sells pastillas de leche and yema, and purple yam its is really very sweetest gift for xmas especially wrapped in the special wrapper art handmaid embroided. call me at 9361265
November 8th, 2007to frances jonhson; too bad that you bought the old stock ones..you should be buying the fresh ones like the ones we sell, you can order from us freshly direct from san miguel bulacan. my store is san miguel sweets and delicacies, 9361265 look for raquel, its packed fresh and from home of san miguel.hear from you. had also wrappers of handmaid personalized colorful wrappers. at affordable price for souvenirs or special occassions.
November 8th, 2007I also love eating pastillas from San Miguel bulacan, because my living great-grandmother would give us one every new year (they are from san miguel). And I remembered my folks buying from San Miguel or Malolos about 3 yrs ago where you can buy in bulk, and just do the repackaging your self.
Alcala’s pastillas are really good as well. You can buy it from their distributor in Manila. Just place an order in advance.
November 19th, 2007“oh that’s too bad frances.. I’m from the south and have tasted that Miggy’s Jumbo Pastillas (09175274192). It’s really sooo yummy!! Comes pa in a nice cute box so it’s ready to be given out as a gift. It’s not available anytime so you need to order in advance especially if you’re going on a trip and plan to bring as pasalubong. I try to keep a stock in the house for my kids and myself.
November 24th, 2007ang sarap non pwamise
December 4th, 2007i am a student who’s willing to conduct a new product development for our thesis….which is “MULTIPLE ROOTCROPS PASTILLAS”(combination of sweet potato,cassava& taro) don’t you think it is a good idea..? does the title is ok? or another title for that combination of pastillas that makes interesting to the panelist……
January 14th, 2008my i have the ingredience of pastills karabaw made? your product is so delicious and mounth watering taste.
January 15th, 2008i wanted to know how can i order this candy online iam from sacramento theres none here i checked everywhere through here thanks
February 2nd, 2008all pastillas junkie.
February 7th, 2008Mana Lumen’s Pastillas de Leche, Carigara, Leyte..
authentic cara milk.
soooo good.
okay! well, how do you make it?
April 28th, 2008My friend has a store in San Miguel, Bulacan! They make masarap and soft Pastillas De Leche, Ube and Yema. Fresh talaga at everyday sila gumagawa. They supply pastillas to some major Bulacan Candy Stores (w/out their name printed on it, syempre!)..even the Former First Lady of the Philippines dito nag oorder pag December for her grandchildren.. Yun nga lang they do not have a store here sa Manila. Before, may kumukuha sa kanila sinusupply nmn sa SM, when my friend saw the retail price, as in nagulat sya, almost Triple the price!!! But still, i get my order every week kasi my friend brings it here in my place at Sampaloc. I’m asured na it’s really masarap at bagong luto. By the way, orders yun ng mga officemates ko… If you are interested to try and taste their candies, email me at belle_2k4@yahoo.com or YM me at belle_2k4..
May 11th, 2008iyong pastillas de leche paborito koyan kya lang naalmuras ako sa subrang kain.At nung inibak koang pastillas na yan e aba amoy pa sariwa
May 29th, 2008hi!!im the sales clerk before of sevilla sweets at sm marilao
June 18th, 2008there prduct is so delicious..and you will enjoy it for sure..
try to visit there branches store en taste there pruduct you will enjoy it for sure!specially wen u go 2 abroad..the best ang pastillas ng sevilla!!4 pasalubong!1try it en you will love it…gb!!!
where’s the recipe?
July 5th, 2008we are student of SAIT creating pastillas chayote de papaya for are subject business research.
July 20th, 2008hmmm pastillas is my favorite i want to taste that pure carabao milk ingredients dats nice i think
August 1st, 2008talaga masarap pastillas de leche using carabao milk
August 5th, 2008