Atolillo

Ingredients

Base

• 1 litrewhole milk
• 60 gcornflour
• 150 gsugar
• a pinch of salt

To flavour

• 2cinnamon sticks
• 1 teaspoonvanilla extract
• the peel of half a lime, in one strip
• 1/4 teaspoongrated nutmeg, optional

To enrich

• 3egg yolks, optional
• 30 gbutter, optional

To serve

• ground cinnamon, for dusting
• small cups or glasses

Directions

1. Pour most of the milk into a heavy pot. Keep about two hundred millilitres back for the slurry. Add the cinnamon sticks and the strip of lime peel. Take only the coloured zest without the white pith. Bring the milk slowly toward a simmer over medium heat. Do not let it boil over, which happens very suddenly.
2. Take it off the heat as soon as it steams. Cover the pot and let it infuse for fifteen minutes. Making the slurry is the step that prevents lumps. Put the cornflour in a bowl with the reserved cold milk.
3. Whisk it into a completely smooth thin paste. There must be no lumps at all before it goes near heat. Whisk in the egg yolks now if you are using them.
4. Return the infused milk to a medium heat. Add the sugar and the pinch of salt. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Whisk the cornflour slurry again before using it. It settles to the bottom within a minute of standing.
5. Pour it into the warm milk in a thin steady stream. Whisk continuously and hard as you pour it in. Bring it slowly up to a bare simmer. Keep whisking hard right through that thickening. Once thick, let it bubble gently for two full minutes.
6. Take the pot off the heat completely. Beat in the butter if you are using it. Stir in the vanilla and the grated nutmeg. Taste it and adjust the sweetness if needed. Pass the hot pudding through a fine sieve.
7. Pour it into small cups or glasses while it is hot. Fill each one nearly to the top. Let them cool to room temperature first. Press cling film onto the surface to prevent it. Refrigerate them for at least three hours. Dust ground cinnamon generously over each cup. It keeps three days refrigerated and covered.

Technique

• Atolillo sits between the hot maize atoles of Central America and the Spanish milk puddings brought by colonisation.
• It is thickened with cornstarch rather than with maize meal, which is what makes it smooth rather than grainy.

Substitutions

• Evaporated milk diluted with water gives a richer pudding.
• The egg yolks can be left out entirely for a lighter and simpler version.

Variations

• Some households flavour it with orange peel instead of lime.
• A chocolate version is made by whisking in cocoa with the sugar.
• Atol de elote and atol blanco are the hot maize relatives drunk elsewhere in the region.

History

A Nicaraguan household dessert set in small cups, close kin to the atoles drunk hot elsewhere.

Frequently asked questions

What is Atolillo?

Atolillo is a dessert from Nicaragua: milk pudding thickened with cornstarch, flavoured with cinnamon and vanilla. A Nicaraguan household dessert set in small cups, close kin to the atoles drunk hot elsewhere.

How long does Atolillo take to make?

Atolillo takes 10 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Atolillo?

Yes, within limits. Evaporated milk diluted with water gives a richer pudding. The egg yolks can be left out entirely for a lighter and simpler version.

What is the most important thing to get right in Atolillo?

Pour most of the milk into a heavy pot. Keep about two hundred millilitres back for the slurry. Add the cinnamon sticks and the strip of lime peel. Take only the coloured zest without the white pith. Bring the milk slowly toward a simmer over medium heat. Do not let it boil over, which happens very suddenly.