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Nieve de leche quemada
Burnt milk ice cream
Nieve de leche quemada: Oaxacan ice cream of scorched cinnamon milk with a toasty caramel flavour
Under the laurel trees by the church of La Soledad in Oaxaca city, the nieve stalls scoop leche quemada, burnt milk ice cream, often paired in one cup with a tart tuna (prickly pear) sorbet. The milk is cooked with cinnamon until it catches and caramelises on the bottom of the pan, giving a smoky, toffee-like flavour and a light beige colour. It contains dairy and egg. Chef's tip: let the milk scorch deliberately, but scrape the brown layer into the milk rather than letting it go black.
- Total time
- 90 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 4 ¼ cups whole milk
- 6 ½ oz sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- ¾ cup double cream
- 1 pinch salt
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 4 ¼ cups whole milk, half the 3 ⅛ oz sugar and 2 cinnamon sticks in a heavy pan over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20–25 minutes, stirring only now and then, so a golden-brown layer forms on the base.
25 minStep 2: Scrape the browned layer into the milk; it will look speckled and smell of toffee. A common mistake is to stop at a pale milk, which gives no real burnt flavour; if the base turns black, though, don't scrape it in.
2 minStep 4: Return to the pan and stir over a low heat for 5–7 minutes until the custard coats a spoon and reaches 176°F. Stir in the ¾ cup double cream.
7 minStep 5: Cool, then chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
30 minStep 6: Churn in an ice-cream machine for 20–30 minutes until thick, then freeze 2 hours to firm up. Without a machine, freeze in a tub and stir hard with a fork every 45 minutes for 3 hours.
30 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 260 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does nieve de leche quemada take?
- About 90 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 70 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.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of whole milk?
- Semi-skimmed milk with 1 tbsp cream per 240ml (1 cup).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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