Atole de Almendra de las Madres Clarisas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 2-quart saucepan
• •High-powered blender or metate
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wooden spoon
• •Talavera poblana cups for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Blanch the almonds

   Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the almonds for 60 seconds, drain them, and slip off the skins while they are still warm. The skin brings bitterness and a dusty color. The convent version is pale, smooth, and careful. Do the work.

2. 2

   Soak the rice

   Rinse the rice until the water runs mostly clear, then soak it in 1 cup water for 20 minutes. Drain it well. The rice is not here to dominate. It gives the atole body so the almond can carry through the milk without turning thin.

3. 3

   Grind the base

   Put the peeled almonds, soaked drained rice, and 1 cup of the milk in a blender. Blend until the mixture is as smooth as your machine can make it, 1 to 2 minutes. If you have a metate and patience, use it. If not, a blender is honest work here. No me vengas con atajos that change the dish, but a blender that grinds well earns its place.

4. 4

   Strain for smoothness

   Pass the almond mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a heavy saucepan, pressing with a spoon to extract as much milk as possible. Rinse the blender with another 1/2 cup milk and strain that too. This is how you keep the drink smooth instead of gritty. Atole should coat the tongue, not scratch it.

5. 5

   Cook with canela

   Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups milk, the canela stick, piloncillo or sugar, and salt to the saucepan. Set over medium-low heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Keep the spoon touching the bottom because milk catches fast. After 15 to 20 minutes, the atole should thicken lightly and leave a clean line on the spoon when you run your finger through it.

   Do not boil it hard. A hard boil makes the milk taste cooked and can turn the almond coarse. You want a steady, patient thickening.
6. 6

   Finish and serve

   Remove the canela stick. Stir in the vanilla only if using it, and taste for sweetness. Serve immediately in Talavera poblana cups or thick clay mugs. It should be pourable, creamy, and fragrant with almond first, canela second. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy whole raw almonds and peel them yourself. Pre-sliced almonds are often dry and taste like the shelf they sat on. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Use Mexican canela, the soft Ceylon cinnamon sold in Mexican markets, not the hard cassia sticks from the back of a supermarket spice jar. Canela should crumble under your fingers and smell sweet before it even touches the milk.
• •Piloncillo gives a deeper winter sweetness. White sugar gives the paler convent look. Both are acceptable here, but do not use brown sugar with molasses unless you want the almond flavor pushed aside.
• •This is not champurrado. Champurrado takes masa. This atole uses almond and a little rice. Mexican drinks have rules too.

Advance Preparation

• •The almonds can be blanched and peeled one day ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator so they do not dry out.
• •The rice can be rinsed and soaked up to four hours ahead, then drained before blending.
• •Atole is best served the day it is made. If it thickens as it sits, reheat gently with a splash of milk and stir until smooth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 225g)