Milk cooked with panela and cinnamon and set firm with cornstarch, with coconut through it. It is not an egg custard: it sets solid enough to cut into squares, and it is what Colombia eats at Christmas.
Natilla is not custard
The English word custard has been attached to this page for years and it sends people to the wrong dish.
An English custard is milk thickened with egg yolk, poured over a pudding. Spanish natillas are the same idea: egg, milk, sugar, served in a bowl with a spoon.
Colombian natilla has no egg in it at all. It is milk cooked with panela and set with a full cup of cornstarch, which produces something firm: you pour it into a tray, let it cool, and cut it into squares that hold their shape when you pick them up.
Same word, three different desserts. This is the Colombian one.
Cornstarch in cold milk, always
The third step separates one cup of the five and mixes the cornstarch into it, cold, and it is the step that decides whether the natilla is smooth.
Cornstarch tipped into a hot pot gelatinises the instant it lands. It forms knots with dry powder trapped in the middle, and no amount of stirring afterwards breaks them up.
Mixed into cold milk it disperses completely and only starts thickening once the whole pot warms together. Stir it again right before you pour it in, because it settles to the bottom within a minute of standing.
A full cup of cornstarch
That is a great deal of starch for five cups of milk and it is correct. This dessert is meant to set solid.
It also means it thickens fast and catches on the bottom of the pot the moment you stop stirring, so the eighth and ninth steps both say to stir constantly. They mean it.
The last 8 minutes, after it has already thickened, are what take it from a thick cream to something that will hold a cut edge.
Panela, and what to use instead
A pound of panela: whole cane sugar boiled down and set in a block, unrefined, with a molasses depth that ordinary sugar does not have. It is what gives natilla its colour and most of its character.
If you cannot find it, use two cups of white and brown sugar mixed. The ingredient list on this page used to say one cup, which is less than half of what a pound of panela amounts to, and anyone who followed it ended up with a pale, thin-tasting natilla and no idea why.
Christmas, and buñuelos
Natilla is a Christmas dessert in Colombia, made in December and served alongside buñuelos: round, fried, faintly salty cheese balls.
The pairing is the point. The natilla is sweet, dense and cinnamon-scented; the buñuelo is salty and crisp. Neither is quite the same on its own.
More Christmas things
- Chocolate pudding — set with cornstarch too.
- Dulce de auyama — the other panela dessert.
- Three milks dessert — set with gelatine instead.
- Muchacho relleno — what comes before it at Christmas.
Natilla FAQ
A Colombian Christmas pudding of milk cooked with panela and cinnamon and set with cornstarch. It sets firm enough to cut into squares, and it is eaten with buñuelos. There is no egg in it.
No. English custard and Spanish natillas are both set with egg and poured. Colombian natilla is set with a full cup of cornstarch and holds its shape on a plate. Same word, different dessert.
Because cornstarch dropped into a hot pot seizes on contact and forms lumps that never break up. Dispersed in cold milk it stays suspended until the whole pot warms together. Stir it again right before it goes in, since it settles within a minute.
Two cups of white and brown sugar mixed. The recipe used to say one cup, which is less than half what a pound of panela amounts to, and natilla made that way comes out bland.
When a spoon drawn through it leaves a trail that holds. The last 8 minutes after it starts to thicken are what take it from thick to set.
Hours in the fridge. The recipe says to let it set without giving a number. It is ready when the surface is firm to the touch and a knife comes out clean.
Buñuelos, the fried cheese balls, which is the Colombian Christmas pairing. The salty cheese against the sweet panela is the whole point.
📖 Recipe
Natilla Colombiana (Panela and Cornstarch Pudding)
Imprimir Pin ComentarIngredients
- 5 cups milk (four for the pot, one for the cornstarch)
- 1 pound panela (or 2 cups of white and brown sugar mixed)
- 1 cup cornstarch (a full cup: this is what sets it)
- Cinnamon sticks (to taste)
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon (to finish)
Notas
Instructions
- Put 4 cups of the milk in a pot over high heat with the cinnamon sticks.
- Add the panela or the sugar and stir until it has dissolved.
- In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch with the remaining cup of milk, making sure there are no lumps and that nothing settles at the bottom. Set it aside.
- Once the milk boils, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 4 minutes more. Take out the cinnamon sticks.
- Stir the cornstarch and milk mixture again and pour it into the pot, stirring continuously.
- Add the shredded coconut and the butter.
- Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Cook over medium-low heat until it boils and starts to thicken, stirring constantly.
- Once it has thickened, let it cook for another 8 minutes, until the mixture is thick and heavy and a spoon leaves a trail that holds.
- Pour it into individual dishes or a tray, sprinkle ground cinnamon over the top and leave it to set.
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