Milk infused with cinnamon and lemon zest, frozen to a slush, then folded into meringue. It is thicker than a drink and lighter than an ice cream, and it needs no machine.
Stir it while it freezes
The milk goes into the freezer for about an hour, and you break it up with a fork every twenty minutes or so.
Left alone it sets into a solid block. Stirred, the ice forms small separate crystals and the texture stays spoonable, which is the whole point. This is the same technique as a granita and it is the only laborious part of the recipe.
Zest, not peel
Grate only the yellow outside of the lemon. The white pith underneath is bitter, and in a preparation this delicate it shows immediately.
The zest goes into the milk while it heats and stays there while it infuses, then it either gets strained out or left in depending on how you like it.
Folding, not stirring
Beating egg whites to stiff peaks takes five minutes of work and puts air into them. Stirring the frozen milk in vigorously takes that air straight back out.
Use a spatula and a cutting-and-lifting motion, turning the bowl as you go, and stop the moment it looks even. A few streaks are better than a deflated mixture.
A note on raw egg
The meringue is not cooked. For most people that is unremarkable, but anyone pregnant, elderly or with a weakened immune system is generally advised to avoid raw egg. Pasteurised egg whites sold in cartons whip perfectly well and remove the question.
More cold things
- Snow cone — shaved ice, the simpler cousin.
- Milkshakes — vanilla and coffee.
- Cholado — ice, fruit and condensed milk.
- Avena — the other cold milk drink.
Leche Merengada FAQ
So it forms small ice crystals instead of a solid block. Break it up with a fork every twenty minutes or so during the hour it spends in the freezer. This is the same technique as a granita and it is what makes the texture.
It is a literal translation of the Spanish a punto de nieve, which in English is stiff peaks: the point where the whisked egg white holds its shape and the peak stands up without flopping over.
Because stirring knocks out the air you just spent five minutes beating in. Use a spatula, cut down through the middle, lift and turn the bowl, and stop as soon as the mixture looks even.
For most people, no. Anyone pregnant, elderly or immunocompromised is generally advised to avoid raw egg, and pasteurised egg whites from a carton whip just as well if you would rather not risk it.
Not really. It separates as it stands, with the meringue rising and the milk sinking. Make it and serve it. The infused milk, though, can be made a day ahead and frozen when you need it.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 glasses milk
- 1 cinnamon stick, or ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest, grated (zest only: the white pith underneath turns it bitter)
- 3 tablespoons sugar (for the milk)
- Ground cinnamon, to decorate
For the meringue
- 2 egg whites (at room temperature: they whip to more volume than cold ones)
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Notas
Instructions
- Put the milk, the lemon zest, the cinnamon and the sugar in a pot and bring it to the boil over medium heat.
- As soon as it boils, take it off the heat, cover the pot and leave it to infuse so the milk takes on the flavour of the lemon and cinnamon.
- Once it is cold, put it in the freezer for about an hour to crystallise, stirring it with a fork now and then.
- Put the egg whites and the pinch of salt in a bowl and start beating by hand with a fork until they foam.
- Switch to a mixer and add the icing sugar a little at a time, beating until it holds stiff peaks.
- Add the half-frozen milk to the meringue and fold it in gently with a spatula until it is evenly combined.
- Serve, with ground cinnamon over the top.
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