Nicuatole Oaxaqueno

Ingredients

• 160 g masa harina, or 220 g fresh corn masa
• 300 ml water
• 1 litre whole milk
• 180 g caster sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 strip lime zest
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp caster sugar, for the top
• a few drops of red or pink food colouring

Before you cook

• Whisk the masa harina into the water until completely smooth, with no lumps at all.
• Rub the food colouring into the 2 tablespoons of sugar on a plate until it is evenly tinted, then spread it out to dry.
• Wet a 20 cm square dish or a shallow clay bowl and leave it damp.

Steps

1. Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan with the cinnamon stick, the lime zest and the salt.
2. Warm it over medium heat for 6 minutes, until it steams and the cinnamon smells strong, without letting it boil.
3. Lift out the cinnamon stick and the strip of zest.
4. Stir the sugar into the hot milk until it dissolves completely.
5. Pour the masa slurry into the milk in a thin stream, whisking constantly.
6. Cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring without stopping and scraping into the corners of the pan.
7. Keep going until the whisk leaves a trail that holds for two seconds and the raw corn smell has gone.
8. Stir in the vanilla.
9. Pour the hot mixture into the wetted dish and rap it once on the worktop to settle the surface.
10. Scatter the pink sugar evenly over the top while the surface is still glossy.
11. Leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes, then chill it for 2 hours, until firm to the touch.
12. Cut it into squares and lift them out with a wet knife.