AI-generated image
Bienmesabe
Coconut cream and sponge dessert
Cumaná coconut cream and sponge layered dessert with meringue
VenezuelanBienmesabe, 'it tastes good to me', is the festive dessert of Cumaná and the eastern Venezuelan coast, made for Christmas, birthdays and first communions. Layers of sponge fingers soaked in sweet wine are spread with a thick, silky coconut cream thickened with egg yolks, then crowned with soft meringue and a dusting of cinnamon. It is rich, tropical and best made a day ahead. Chef's tip: cook the coconut cream gently and stir constantly once the yolks go in; if it boils hard the yolks scramble and it turns grainy.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the coconut cream
- 3 ¼ cups tinned coconut milkfull fat, 2 tins
- 7 oz sugar
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the layers
- ½ cup sweet wine or sweet sherryor orange juice for children
For the meringue
- 4 oz caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamonto dust
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (2)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Simmer 3 ¼ cups tinned coconut milk, 7 oz sugar and 1 cinnamon stick in a heavy pan over a medium heat, stirring, until reduced by about a quarter, 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick.
15 minStep 2: Whisk 6 egg yolks and 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) in a bowl, then slowly whisk in a ladle of the hot coconut milk.
Step 3: Pour back into the pan over a low heat and stir constantly until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and hold a line drawn through it, 5–7 minutes. Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract and cool.
6 minStep 4: Briefly dip half the 7 oz sponge fingers (ladyfingers) in ¼ cup sweet wine or sweet sherry and lay them in a 20 × 25 cm dish. Spread with half the coconut cream.
Step 5: Repeat with the rest of the sponge fingers, ¼ cup sweet wine or sweet sherry and coconut cream. Chill while you make the meringue.
Step 6: Whisk 3 egg whites to soft peaks, then add 4 oz caster sugar a spoonful at a time and keep whisking until stiff and glossy, 5 minutes.
5 minStep 7: Spread the meringue over the top in swirls. Toast lightly with a kitchen blowtorch or under a hot grill for 1 minute if you like, watching closely.
Step 8: Dust with 1 tsp ground cinnamon and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight. A common mistake is serving it the same hour: it needs time for the sponge to soak and set into neat slices.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 470 kcal
- Protein
- 7 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 24 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bienmesabe take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of tinned coconut milk?
- Single cream, same amount (not dairy free).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Kartoshka cakeCocoa and cake crumb truffles
Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.
Russian
Undu walaluFried urad dal rings in treacle
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
MarquesitasCheese and cajeta crepes
Evening in Mérida's Plaza Grande means the smell of marquesitas: thin batter pressed in hot hinged irons until crisp, then rolled like a cigar around grated Edam cheese and a sweet filling such as cajeta, chocolate-hazelnut spread or jam. Edam came to the Yucatán through the port trade with the Netherlands and became part of the local cooking, and the salty-sweet combination is the whole point. At home you can cook them in a thin, wide frying pan. Edam is usually made with animal rennet, so check the label or use a vegetarian Gouda-style cheese. Chef's tip: roll while the crêpe is still in the pan and hot; within seconds it hardens and will crack.
Mexican