Sunday, September 27, 2009

Tembleque (Coconut Custard)

Tembleque is a coconut custard that hails from Puerto Rico. The translation I found online was "violent shaking" and if that is true, it's quite adorable, because this pudding does indeed shake once it has chilled and set! Make it ahead of time so it has time to chill - ideally overnight, although mine was fine after about 9 hours.

In a saucepan, combine 6 tablespoons raw sugar with 1/4 cup cornstarch, a dash of salt and 20 ounces (about 1 and 1/2 cans) of light coconut milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and once boiling, cook for 1 minute. Definitely don't be tempted to turn the heat up any higher. When I did momentarily, the cornstarch began to stick to the bottom of the saucepan.

Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract and just a drop of coconut extract. For both, I highly recommend the extracts from Frontier Natural Flavor, which are all natural: www.frontiercoop.com

Strain the mixture through a sieve over a shallow dish - my 8x8-inch baking dish worked fine. I assumed that meant I should discard any solids that accumulated in the sieve, i.e. a few chunks of cornstarch, although the original recipe did not specify to do so.

Cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap and, as mentioned above, chill.

Divide the custard evenly among 5 small bowls - teacups work well too! Sprinkle the tops evenly with just a dash of cinnamon. Each serving is 160 calories.

Cost:
light coconut milk $4.78
coconut extract $6.69

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