Tembleque de Coco (Coconut Tembleque)

Tembleque de coco is a traditional dish served in Puerto Rico around the holiday season. It is jiggly and similar in texture to a panna cotta.

Preparation Details

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 5 hrs 15 mins

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 4 cups coconut milk
• 1 ½ cups coconut cream
• 1 ½ cups evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cornstarch
• ⅔ cup white sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon lime zest
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon, or to taste

Steps

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.