Posts Tagged ‘Puerto Rico’

It’s the week of Puerto Rican desserts because I have a great one for you today.  It’s called Bienmesabe (This tastes good) and it’s an old traditional Puerto Rican dessert and it’s not readily available on restaurant menus, but if any up and coming pastry chefs want to add a sure fire dessert to their menu, this is the way to go.

This dessert quickly made it to my top 10 dessert list and if you know me, that’s quite the feat.  This is another simple recipe. I haven’t made it myself, but I will be making it soon.  (Very possibly for my brother’s birthday cake, so I hope he’s not reading this right now!) My mother-in-law whipped this up yesterday and we had it last night and the rest of it tonight. I’m just going to show the preparation of the dessert we had, not the making of it right now. I’ll do that at home when I make it for myself.

It’s made from cream of coconut and egg yolks cooked together to make a coconut curd.  Then you can either pour it over a poundcake or homemade cake while it’s warm and it will soak in, ala tres leches style OR you can chill the curd and spoon it over cake more like a pudding.  Serve with whipped cream and you’re done.

Arrange poundcake in dessert bowl

Drizzle brandy or other liquor over the poundcake

Pour the coconut curd over the poundcake

Add whipped cream

Coquito is a Puerto Rican drink made from a variety of milks and rum.  It’s a holiday or special occasion drink usually served for Christmas or New Year’s Eve.  It’s a very simple, quick recipe.  My mother-in-law, Lillian, and I made the coquito in a very short time. Well, she made it and I took photos.  I stirred once in a while, too, so technically that counts.

You need a large pitcher because it does make a lot.  Keep it chilled in the fridge  and serve it after dinner or with dessert.  This is the recipe from a Puerto Rican cookbook.  I’ll translate it below.

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk (added to give it sweetness)
1 14 oz can of evaporated milk
1 can of coconut milk (the recipe calls for 2 cans of evaporated milk, so this is a change from the recipe)
1 can of cream of coconut
2 cups rum
pinch of salt
sprinkle cinnamon on top if desired

Open cans and pour into the pitcher.  Stir well after each addition. After adding the rum, stir again and put in fridge to chill and enjoy.

Coquito ingredients

Add evaporated milk

Add cream of coconut

Add coconut milk and stir

Add sweetened condensed milk

1 cup of rum

Second cup of rum

Stir well, chill and enjoy