Christmas starts early here in Puerto Rico, so I decided to kick off the festive season by making some Tembleque.
Tembleque is a traditional Coconut dessert (pudding) here in Puerto Rico usually served at Christmas time.
The recipe is really easy and If I can make it, anyone can
Ingedients
- 2 cans (13.5 oz. each) Coconut Milk
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup corn starch
- ¼ tsp. salt
- Toasted coconut (optional for garnish)
- Ground cinnamon (for garnish)
Directions
- In saucepan over medium-high heat, combine 1.5 cans of the coconut milk with sugar and salt, stirring occasionally until the mixture starts to boil
- In a separate bowl dissolve the cornstarch with the remaining 0.5 can of Coconut milk, making sure that the cornstarch has no lumps
- Add this cornstarch and coconut mixture to the pan and stir until the mixture starts to thicken (about 5 mins)
- Next pour through a strainer(optional) into individual serving dishes or one large bowl then cover to prevent a thick skin from forming on the top as the dessert cools.Allow to cool and place into the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours or longer
- If you are using individual serving dishes, sprinkle the top of the tembleque with ground cinnamon before serving
- If you have used a large bowl, then run a thin knife around the edge of the pudding, carefully invert the bowl onto a serving plate. Sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon before serving
Note: I originally used the Coco Lopez brand of coconut milk, but was not satisfied with the color of the final tembleque. It turned out a grayish off white. I switched to Goya Coconut Milk and the tembleque came out perfect.
The above recipe will give you a firm textured tembleque dessert. If you prefer a slightly softer consistency, play around with the cornstarch to coconut ratio
