I’ve been having some serious nostalgia lately when it comes to my home country, Brazil. And the best way I found to feel some of the comfort from home is through the kitchen. So my dear friends, I want to introduce you to one of the Brazilian desserts that I’ve always loved: Curau!
One of the things I love about curau is its simplicity. The ingredients that go into it are quite basic and it comes out so delicious. It’s also a pretty inexpensive dish to make and if you are a corn and cinnamon lover, this is a must for you.
When I lived in Brazil I enjoyed this sweet corn custard plenty of times and have even seen my aunt and grandmother make it. But I had never made it by myself. So what does one do when they are going to attempt something for the first time? Call your mother, of course.
On our call, my mom (and dad) walked me through the recipe and it seemed simple enough to give a go. And it truly is. I’d say that the total time to make this was about 30 minutes. But I did make one big oopsie in the beginning. I forgot to let the corn actually thaw. When you make yours, don’t forget to let the corn unfreeze or you’ll have a hard time blending it with the milk.
Having said that, let’s get to the good stuff shall we? See you in the kitchen my dear friends!
Curau, Sweet Corn Custard Recipe
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
- 1 bag of frozen sweet corn (about 450 g)
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond or coconut milk
- 4 TBSP brown sugar
- Cinnamon to taste (I used about 2 tsp)
- Cashew pieces and cinnamon to decorate (optional)
Instructions:
- Blend thawed sweet corn with milk in a blender until smooth. Add more milk if needed. NOTE: make sure that the corn is no longer frozen or you’ll have a hard time blending it.
- Pour corn liquid through a strain or sieve into a pan. To make sure you get the most liquid into the pan, press down on the corn pulp with a spoon. Reserve the corn pulp to make a delicious corn cake.
- Take the pan with corn cream to the stove using medium-high heat. Add sugar and cinnamon and cook for about 10 minutes or until it starts to thicken. Make sure that you are stirring constantly so the corn cream doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn.
- When corn cream thickens, pour into container of choice and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight. Don’t worry if it’s not too thick, once the custard cools, it will thicken more.
- Enjoy!
