Tembleque de Coco (Coconut Tembleque)

Tembleque, a traditional dessert served in Puerto Rico, is a creamy coconut milk-based dish often served around the holiday season.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 35 mins
• Calories: 430 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 4 cups coconut milk
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 0.66666668653488 cup white sugar
• 0.25 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 0.25 teaspoon ground ginger
• 0.5 teaspoon lime zest
• 1.5 cups evaporated milk
• 1.5 cups coconut cream

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Combine coconut milk, coconut cream, evaporated milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a large saucepan.

Step 2

Mix milk and cornstarch together in a bowl until dissolved; stir into coconut milk mixture. Add sugar, vanilla extract, orange blossom water, salt, and lime zest to coconut milk mixture; cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until simmering and mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low and cook until thickened, about 15 minutes.

Step 3

Remove the saucepan from heat, pour mixture into a deep 9-inch cake pan, and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate until tembleque is chilled, at least 4 hours to overnight.

Step 4

Remove tembleque from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature, about 10 minutes. Dip bottom of the pan in a bowl of warm water for 1 minute. Carefully separate tembleque from the pan by running a thin knife around the edges. Place a serving dish on top of the pan and invert tembleque onto the dish; garnish with cinnamon.