Tembleque de Coco (Coconut Tembleque)

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Servings: 12
Yield: 12 servings

Description

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

Ingredients

4 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 cups coconut cream
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup milk
1 cup cornstarch
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1 pinch ground cinnamon, or to taste

Directions

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