I often feel like I grew up in another world. When I share stories of my childhood I realize that my bringing up was a unique one; compared to most of American’s my age.
School was something I dreamed of since I could make up full sentences. Often, I would make up stories to my dad about going to school and would instruct myself my own homework. What child does that?! When the time came to be enrolled I was the happiest girl in the world that I didn’t even mind the 1 mile walk through high grass land and hills to make it to school.
My school was composed of a 1 room classroom, about 20 students between 1st-6th grade, and almost all the children would arrive by riding a horse or donkey. As humble as my school was, the education was quite advanced and the strictness allowed in the classroom shaped me well. What also made a huge difference in my education was the fact that my mom rarely allowed us to leave to school without a meal in our stomach. One of my favorite things to eat before school was a warm plate of camote with milk.
Camotes are a widely used yam in Mexico, often used in breakfast as they are high in nutrients and fiber. My mom often made them in a purée with fresh milk from our cows and a dash of brown sugar. Off to school I went with an amazing dish in my small stomach.
As the memories of camote fill my life with happiness I needed to share this happiness with you. I’ve updated my moms pudding to a dessert and created a Camote Pudding with Piloncillo Sweet Cream.
Yields: approximately 6 small puddings
Ingredients
1 camote (can be substituted with a regular yam)
3 cloves
1 Mexican cinnamon stick
3 cups water
4 Tablespoons piloncillo
1 tablespoon coconut milk
4 graham crackers
1 tablespoon steel-cut oats
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
Piloncillo Sweet Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons of piloncillo
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Bring 3 cups of water to a boil adding the camote (cut into large equal sized pieces), cloves, cinnamon (broken up into pieces), and 1 tablespoon of piloncillo. Boil for approximately 15 minutes, under low heat, until the camote is fully cooked.
- In the meantime, you can work on the crust. In a food processor, combine graham crackers, oats, 1 tablespoon of piloncillo, and a pinch of salt. Pulse until you reach a crumb like consistency. Now add about 1 tablespoon of heavy cream slowly feeding it as you pulse. You are looking for a moist crumb consistency but not wet.
- Scoop the crumbs into the bottom of cupcake liners creating a thin crust. Place in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 7 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove the skins of the camote and place in a food processor. Add 1 tablespoon of coconut milk and 2 tablespoons of piloncillo. Process until you reach a smooth consistency but somewhat firm.
- Remove the crusts from the oven and add a spoonful of the camote pudding (it doesn’t have to fill all the way to the top of the liner). Turn the oven heat down to 350 degrees and bake the puddings for approximately 15 minutes.
- Add 1/2 cup of sugar to the cooking liquid of the camotes and under low/medium heat reduce until it thickens. Keep mixing and use low heat to avoid burning the glaze.
- Lastly, add 1 cup of heavy cream, 2 tablespoons of piloncillo, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract into a mixer and whip until you reach soft peaks.
- Allow the pudding to cool before plating.
I like to plate it by adding excessive amounts of piloncillo sweet cream, glaze, and shavings of piloncillo.
Provecho!
