Venezuelan Ponche Crema
Venezuela's Christmas cream liqueur, cousin of coquito: eggs, milk, rum, lime peel and nutmeg, silky and ice cold.
Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.
If you love Puerto Rican coquito, meet its Venezuelan cousin. Ponche crema is what Venezuelan families pour at Christmas, between hallacas and pan de jamón: a thick, silky cream liqueur made with egg yolks, condensed and evaporated milk, rum, a strip of lime peel and nutmeg. Where coquito tastes of coconut and cinnamon, ponche crema tastes like a rich vanilla custard with a warm rum finish.
The Thermomix® TM7™ makes it simple and safe: it blends the yolks with the milks and then cooks the cream gently at 80°C (175°F) while it stirs, so the eggs cook through without scrambling and the lime peel perfumes the whole batch.
Make it a few days before the party: it gets better in the fridge as the lime and nutmeg settle in, and small bottles tied with a ribbon make a lovely homemade Christmas gift for the grown-ups on your list. Serve it very cold, in small glasses, with a pinch of nutmeg on top.
Made in the Thermomix® TM7™
Venezuelan Ponche Crema
Makes: About 1.25 L (5 cups)
- Prep15 min
- Cook15 min
- Total4 h 45 min
- Serves20
Ingredients
Instructions
- Wash the lime and peel the green skin in 3 or 4 wide strips with a vegetable peeler, leaving the bitter white part behind. Keep the lime for another use.
- Place the egg yolks, condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk in the mixing bowl and mix 20 sec/speed 4.
- Add the lime peel strips and the nutmeg and cook 12 min/80°C (175°F)/speed 3. The cream thickens a little and the yolks cook gently without scrambling.
- Lift out the lime peel with the spatula. Leave the cream in the bowl with the lid off for 30 min, then let it cool to room temperature.
- Add the rum and the vanilla and mix 20 sec/speed 4.
- Pour through a fine strainer into clean glass bottles, close them and chill at least 4 hours. Shake before serving cold in small glasses with a little grated nutmeg on top.
Tips
- Alcohol-free version: leave out the rum and add 120 g (1/2 cup) more whole milk in step 5, so the kids can toast too.
- Keep it closed in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and shake the bottle before pouring; it thickens as it chills.
- For gifts, use small glass bottles that close well and keep them cold until you hand them over.
- For adults 21 and over.
