Limonada de Coco (Colombian Coconut Lemonade)

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Fresh coconut milk blended with lime juice, ice, sugar and a little cream, until it comes out pale, thick and frothy. It is the drink of Cartagena and the Caribbean coast, sold everywhere in the old city. Made from a whole coconut, or from a tin in five minutes. Serves four.

Prep Time25

Cook Time5

Total Time30

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Colombian

Keyword: Coconut lemonade, limonada de coco

Servings:

Calories: 243kcal

Author: Angela Giraldo

Ingredients

1 small coconut or 1½ cups tinned full-fat coconut milk, which skips steps 1 to 4
2 cups ice the drink is meant to be thick and frozen, so do not cut this back
1 cup water
6 or 7 ounces lime juice lime, not lemon; about ¾ cup, from 6 to 8 limes
3 to 5 tablespoons sugar start at three and taste: it depends on the limes
2 tablespoons heavy cream this is what makes it pale and rounds off the acidity
Lime slices, to garnish

Instructions

Peel the coconut, drain off the water inside and set it aside.
Roast the coconut over medium-low heat for about 4 minutes, until it is blackened all over. Then knock it sharply against a hard surface to crack it and pull the shell away. The roasting is what loosens the flesh from the shell, so do not skip it.
Wash the coconut flesh and cut it into small pieces. Blend it with a little water, only as much as the blender needs to move.
Strain the blended pulp to extract the coconut milk.
In the blender, combine 1½ cups of that coconut milk with the ice, water, lime juice, sugar and cream.
Blend for a few minutes, until it is smooth and frothy.
Serve in a glass with a slice of lime.

Notes

If you do not want to break open a coconut, use 1½ cups of tinned full-fat coconut milk and start at step 5. It is what most people do outside the Caribbean and the result is very close. Do not use the carton coconut drink, which is mostly water. Blend it long enough to go frothy: the foam on top is part of what makes a limonada de coco, and it settles within a few minutes, so serve it straight away. The cream is not optional in spirit: it is what turns a sharp coconut drink into the pale, rounded one sold in Cartagena.

Nutrition