AI-generated image
Nicuatole
Corn and cinnamon pudding
Oaxaca's set corn and cinnamon pudding, cut into squares
Nicuatole is a Zapotec sweet sold in little squares from glass cases at Oaxacan markets and at village fiestas, often with a bright pink top coloured with cochineal. It is made from corn masa cooked with water, sugar and cinnamon until it thickens enough to set when cool, a cousin of atole you can cut with a knife. The texture is soft, slightly bouncy and cool, and it is eaten as an afternoon treat. We give a coconut-milk option and use beetroot juice or a natural red food colouring instead of cochineal (which comes from insects) for the red layer. Chef's tip: cook it until the spoon leaves a clear path across the pan base for a full second; undercooked nicuatole never sets.
- Total time
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 5 ½ oz masa harina
- 5 cups water
- 6 ½ oz sugaror piloncillo, grated
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tbsp beetroot juice or natural red food colouring (optional)for the top
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)to dust
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (1)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Whisk 5 ½ oz masa harina into 400 ml of the 5 cups water until there are no lumps. Leave for 10 minutes.
10 minStep 2: Put the remaining water in a heavy saucepan with 1 cinnamon stick (canela), 6 ½ oz sugar and 1 pinch salt and bring to a simmer over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
5 minStep 3: Pour the masa mixture through a sieve into the pan, whisking all the time. Remove the cinnamon stick.
Step 4: Cook over a medium-low heat for about 25 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and scraping the base, until it is very thick and glossy and the spoon leaves a clear path for a second. Common mistake: turning the heat up to hurry it; the bottom catches and the pudding tastes burnt.
25 minStep 5: Keep back 4 tablespoons of the hot mixture if making the pink top. Pour the rest into a 20 cm square dish rinsed with cold water and smooth the top.
1 minStep 6: For the pink top, stir 2 tbsp beetroot juice or natural red food colouring into 4 tablespoons of the hot mixture you kept back and spread it thinly over the surface. Otherwise dust with ½ tsp ground cinnamon.
Step 7: Cool, then chill for at least 2 hours, until firm. Cut into squares to serve.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 160 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 37 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does nicuatole take?
- About 40 minutes in total: 10 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 vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of cinnamon stick (canela)?
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon per stick.
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
Baklava
The famous layered pastry: crisp sheets of buttered fillo sandwich a filling of almonds, pistachios and cashews spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. After baking, the hot baklava is soaked in a syrup of sugar, honey, lemon, rose and cardamom and decorated with almond and pistachio flakes. Cut into 40 diamonds; serve with fresh cream or ice cream.