Yoly's Atolillo

This Niaraguan pudding recipe wraps up my childhood in a warm blanket. When I made this for the first time last year, my first sniff of the pudding cooking in the saucepan warped me back to being 11 years old and in the kitchen with Yoly. It's the easiest thing to make and, quite frankly, is good hot, right off the stove, or cold after a day or two sitting in the fridge. It's never lasted more than a couple of days in my fridge... I eat it all.

I couldn't wait, so I took a couple of spoonfuls (see lower right quadrant of bowl). Sorry 'bout it.

Atolillo
- 3 cups of 2% milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp cornstarch
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 sticks of cinnamon
- water
- Ground cinnamon for garnishing

* In a saucepan, place 2 sticks of cinnamon in water that just covers the bottom of the saucepan. Simmer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
* In a blender, mix together milk, sugar, egg, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla. Pulse until just blended.
* Add milk mixture to saucepan with cinnamon and water. Keep heat on med-low (never actually boiling or rumbling). Stir continuously for approximately 10 minutes.
* All of a sudden, you'll notice the mixture thicken and becoming pudding-like. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, still stirring.
* Pour into serving dish (or individual dishes if serving individually). Lightly sprinkle ground cinnamon on top.

That's it! Super easy. It's important to keep the heat low because you don't want the milk to curdle or the egg to cook too quickly. Keeping it low will give you the perfect pudding consistency.

To store, you can either just put the saran wrap over the serving dish or put it in a tupperware.