Natilla (Colombian Custard)

Natilla is a Colombian custard-like dessert made with milk, cinnamon and coconut. This sweet treat is traditionally served alongside fried Buñuelos at Christmas time.

Every Christmas my mom and I get a bit carried away with our holiday baking. We love giving homemade shortbread cookies, marshmallows and other treats to our friends and family - it's our tradition.

This year we tested out a few new recipes (including a chocolate truffle that just REFUSED to set), but this Colombian Natilla recipe just might be our new favourite.

I had been asking my friends what they eat during the holidays, and most people named the standard fare (cinnamon buns, panettone, fruitcake etc.). We actually had a really interesting discussion about what people eat on Christmas morning on my page on Facebook, if you want to check that out.

Anyhow, I was talking to one of my friends, Jeyson, and he told me about two Colombian dishes that I've never heard of before: Natilla and Buñuelos.

I wanted to try making Colombian Buñuelos, because they sound DELICIOUS (deep-fried cheese balls!), but I couldn't find queso fresco anywhere. None of the large groceries in my area seem to carry queso freso, oaxaca, or other Latin American cheeses

Luckily for me, the ingredients for Natilla are fairly easy to find.

In fact, Natilla is pretty similar to a Trinidadian dessert that my mom makes called Cassava Pone. We've been meaning to share our pone recipe on the blog for YEARS now, but somehow it just hasn't happened yet. One of these days...

OK, so let's talk about this Colombian Natilla recipe. First of all, I'm calling it a custard, because most recipes that I found call it a custard. However, it's important to note that this recipe does not actually contain any eggs (custards are usually cooked desserts made from milk and eggs).

Spanish versions of the recipe, called Natillas, include lemon zest and egg yolks and has a texture similar to crème anglaise.

The Colombian version doesn't have eggs, but it does contain a large amount of cornstarch. This causes the mixture to set up firm enough that you can cut it into slices.

The main ingredient in Natilla is dairy milk. Ordinarily, whole milk is used, but whole milk isn't really a thing here in Canada.

From my research, it looks like whole milk has a milk fat content of 3.5% or more. I used Homogenized 3.25% milk in this recipe, and it works. Apparently, Homogenized milk is something unique to Canada though, so feel free to use whatever counts as whole milk, or full-fat milk, in your country.

TIP: A reader named Marilyn has suggested adding 1 tablespoon of whipping cream to 1 cup 1% milk, to create something similar to whole milk. That might be worth trying if you're stuck!

There are two other kinds of milk in this recipe: coconut milk and condensed milk.

For the coconut milk, you'll want to use canned coconut milk, not the stuff that comes in a carton. My favourite brands are Aroy-D and Grace Foods.

Regardless of the brand you use, you'll want to pour the contents of the can into a measuring cup or a bowl and stir it before measuring the amount you need.

This is important because the fat content (the tasty part) of the coconut milk separates from the water in the can. Especially in cold weather! So you'll want to stir it until everything is one smooth consistency before you measure out the amount you need.

The coconut milk gets blended with the grated coconut, so it will get blended properly, but you need to make sure that you get an equal amount of the fat and the water from the can before blending.

For the condensed milk, you'll need one entire 14 oz can. I use Eagle Brand, which seems to be the most popular brand here in Canada. Now, I realize that using an entire can of condensed milk sounds like a lot, and it is, but trust me you need that much sweetness to flavour the large quantity of cornstarch that's in this dish.

There's a tiny bit of brown sugar in this recipe too, which I like because it adds a slight caramel note to the dessert, and you can add more brown sugar and less condensed milk if you want to. I just find it easier to use an entire can of condensed milk in the recipe so I don't have to worry about storing a half-used can.

The cornstarch is a crucial element in this recipe. Yes, there's a LOT of it in there. When I was doing research on this dish, I did find other recipes that had half of the amount that I used here. But the comments on those recipes often said that the Natilla wouldn't set up firm enough to cut.

When I was discussing the dish with Jeyson, he told me that it's traditionally served in slices and eaten with a spoon, so I wanted to make sure that my recipe would fit those parameters.

One thing to note with the cornstarch is that if you mix it with cold milk, and set it aside, the mixture will begin to harden before you can pour it in. My mom found that by warming the milk up a bit, and then whisking the cornstarch right before adding it to the pan, you could eliminate that problem all together.

The cinnamon cooks in the milk for about 20 minutes total before you remove it, which gives it just enough time to infuse its flavour. Obviously, the longer you leave the sticks in there, the stronger the cinnamon flavour is going to be. I found that 20 minutes was enough, since I'm garnishing the finished dish with ground cinnamon anyhow.

Once the cinnamon has infused into the milk, you'll add the coconut milk mixture, condensed milk, sugar, vanilla etc.

Be careful with the heat on this dish, because if your heat is too high the mixture will scorch before you can finish making the dish.

Milk can burn really easily, so keep an eye on your heat and be sure to stir the mixture often to prevent sticking.

Once you add the cornstarch, the mixture will begin to firm up pretty quickly. You'll want to make sure that you have your loaf pan, serving dish or mini ramekins ready to go near the stove. Trust me, this makes things a lot easier!

I use a silicone or rubber spatula to pour the thickened mixture into the vessels. You need to let the Natilla cool down at room temperature for an hour or two, depending on the size of your serving dish. Once it's cooled, you can garnish and eat it, or set it in the fridge for later.

I like eating this at room temperature, so I'll take it out of the fridge for a bit before I enjoy a slice. But it's actually pretty good cold too.

Now, if only someone would bring over some Buñuelos...