Ingredients
The base
- 1 litrewhole milk
- 1cinnamon stick
- 3whole cloves
- optional
- a strip of lemon peel
The eggs
- 6egg yolks
- 150 gsugar
- or to taste
- a pinch of salt
The spirit
- 150 mlsingani
- or more, to taste
- or pisco
- added off the heat
To serve
- in warm glasses
- or small cups
- ground cinnamon
- grated nutmeg
- after midnight mass
Directions
- Whisk it hard as it heats and thickens. It also keeps the egg from setting. Heat the milk with the cinnamon and lemon peel. Warm it gently rather than boiling it hard.
- Bring it to just below a simmer. Small bubbles should appear at the edges. Take it off the heat once it steams. Cover it and let it stand for ten minutes. Never leave the pan unattended at all. Use a pan larger than seems necessary. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale.
- Whisk them until they thicken and lighten. That takes about three minutes by hand. Add a small pinch of salt as well. Pour a little hot milk into the yolks while whisking. Add just a ladleful to begin with. Whisk constantly and hard as you pour.
- Add about a third of the milk this way. Take your time rather than rushing it. Pour the tempered mixture back into the pan. Pour it into the remaining hot milk slowly. Whisk the pan constantly as you pour. Keep whisking once it is all combined. Do not stop whisking at any point now. Heat the mixture gently while whisking hard.
- Keep the heat low rather than moderate. The mixture must never come near a boil. Take it off the heat at that point. Aim for about seventy-five degrees at most.
- Whisk it constantly right through the heating. That prevents the yolks setting on the base. Stir the singani in off the heat entirely. Take the pan right off the heat first. That keeps the alcohol and the flavour. Add it to taste rather than by rule.
- Whisk the finished drink hard for a moment. The froth should be visible on top. Pour the hot sucumbé into warm glasses. Warm the glasses first with hot water. Cold glasses cool the drink immediately. Tip the water out before pouring. Dust cinnamon or nutmeg over each glass. Grate the nutmeg fresh if you can. A light dusting is quite enough.
Technique
- Egg yolks scramble instantly in hot milk, so temper them: whisk a ladleful of hot milk into the yolks, then another, until about a third has gone in, before returning the mixture to the pan. Adding it all at once gives sweet scrambled egg and there is no fixing it. Whisk constantly throughout the heating, keep the heat low and never let it approach a boil.
- The yolks are cooked gently rather than fully, which carries a genuine salmonella risk that matters most for pregnant people, the very young and anyone immunocompromised. Heating to about seventy-five degrees deals with it, but judging that without a thermometer is difficult — a thermometer removes the uncertainty, and pasteurised egg yolks remove the risk entirely.
- The singani goes in off the heat and is not cooked off at all. A hot sweet drink hides alcohol well and is easy to underestimate, so say clearly it is there; it is not a drink for children.
Substitutions
- Pisco is the nearest widely available substitute for singani and gives a genuinely close result, though it is not identical. Singani is a Bolivian grape spirit made from Muscat of Alexandria at high altitude, with a legally protected designation.
- Pasteurised egg yolks from a carton work perfectly well here and are the atlas’s honest suggestion where the raw egg risk matters.
Variations
- Beat the sugar into the yolks until pale and thickened before any milk goes near them — sugar raises the temperature at which yolks set and makes them less likely to scramble, which is a genuine and useful technique.
- Infuse the milk with cinnamon and lemon peel by heating it to just below a simmer and standing it covered ten minutes off the heat, then removing them. Never leave the pan unattended, since milk rises and boils over without warning, and use a pan larger than seems necessary.
- Whisk it hard at the end to build the froth, which is genuinely characteristic and sits on top of each glass, and serve in small warmed glasses rather than mugs since it is rich and strong. Make it fresh and drink it at once — the froth settles within minutes and reheating sets the egg.
History
A Bolivian Christmas Eve drink, served after midnight mass with sweets.
Frequently asked questions
What is Sucumbé?
Sucumbé is a cocktail from Bolivia: hot milk beaten with egg, cinnamon and singani, drunk at Christmas. A Bolivian Christmas Eve drink, served after midnight mass with sweets.
How long does Sucumbé take to make?
Sucumbé takes 15 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Sucumbé?
Yes, within limits. Pisco is the nearest widely available substitute for singani and gives a genuinely close result, though it is not identical. Singani is a Bolivian grape spirit made from Muscat of Alexandria at high altitude, with a legally protected designation. Pasteurised egg yolks from a carton work perfectly well here and are the atlas’s honest suggestion where the raw egg risk matters.
What is the most important thing to get right in Sucumbé?
Whisk it hard as it heats and thickens. It also keeps the egg from setting. Heat the milk with the cinnamon and lemon peel. Warm it gently rather than boiling it hard.
