Manjar Blanco (Colombian Milk Sweet with Rice)
Manjar blanco is the Valle del Cauca milk sweet: milk reduced slowly with sugar and thickened with blended rice, which gives it more body and a faint grain than arequipe. The rice soaks overnight first. Cinnamon goes in during cooking and over the top at the end. Serves four.
Servings: 4
Calories: 1124kcal
Ingredients
- 3 liters milk about 12¾ cups; whole milk
- 600 g sugar about 3 cups
- ½ cup rice plain white rice; it is a thickener, not something you taste
- Cinnamon sticks for cooking, plus ground cinnamon to serve
Instructions
- Soak the rice in water for 24 hours. It has to soften enough to blend smooth: undersoaked rice leaves the manjar sandy.
- The next day, drain nothing: you will use the rice with its soaking water.
- Put the milk in a wide pot over low heat and let it reduce for at least an hour, stirring often so it does not catch on the bottom. Keep it at a bare simmer rather than a boil. Then add the sugar.
- Blend the soaked rice with its water twice, until completely smooth.
- Strain the blended rice through a fine sieve and add the liquid to the reduced milk. It is the starchy liquid that thickens the manjar, not the grains.
- Add the cinnamon sticks and carry on cooking, stirring, until a spoon drawn across the bottom leaves a trail that holds for a moment and the colour has turned pale ivory. Take out the cinnamon, let it cool and dust with ground cinnamon to serve.
Nutrition
Calories: 1124kcal | Carbohydrates: 205g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 325mg | Potassium: 1022mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 188g | Vitamin A: 1216IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 860mg | Iron: 1mg