Zozobra!

The Bee was born in Santa Fe, NM. Santa Fe has the awesome tradition of having fiestas in August/September, and then burning Old Man Gloom (Zozobra). This is where to watch it tonight streaming live. Think of the movie Wicker Man except without creepy paganistic undertones or dead people. This site has a history and information about it, and I bet you could find Zozobra videos on youtube.
So what does all this have to do with cooking? Well in honor of Old Man Gloom I’m going to be baking a delicious New Mexico treat, natillas on a cinnamon tortilla.
Natillas is a Mexican flan, except unlike flan it’s delicious. I’ve never made it before so this should be interesting.



Ingredients, a fairly short list, I caution you this recipe is very sweet, next time I make it I’m probably going to use only ¼ a cup sugar for the “cooking” part.



So this is what separation of eggs looks like. Five yolks and five whites.



Beat the 5 egg yolks. Add to 1 cup of milk. Mix 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of sugar. The batter was surprisingly thin.



Warm 3 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar (or 2/3 in my case) and 2 tablespoons vanilla, add egg yolk mixture slowly and boil to thicken. This probably took twenty minutes or so. I have a video of how I was stirring since this recipe needs CONSTANT stirring, seriously. I walked away to grab my phone and it got weird on me. I used medium heat, occasionally turning it to medium high for a few minutes, then back down to medium. Natillas are lumpy so don’t be alarmed.



This is about the thickness you want, like pudding.



Before serving, whip the egg whites to a peak,



Add 1/4 cup of sugar, and mix.
Fold the Natillas. I just went ahead and folded them then put them in the fridge to cool. Yay me! On to cinnamon tortilla shells



Ingredients.



Heat a skillet pan over medium heat, either spray it down or add ½ tbsp margarine. Let it heat up/melt. I took pictures with the spray, but switched to margarine because I felt it worked better.



Add tortilla and spray/add margarine to upward side. Once melted sprinkle 1 Tbsp sugar and however much cinnamon across, and flip. There measurements are not exact, this is up to taste. I prefer things to be less sweet, so you might need more.



Add sugar and cinnamon to other side. Flip constantly or they will burn. I burned one a bit and it made me a sad little Bee.


Once both sides have a light caramel color, remove. They smell so amazingly good!



Immediately press it into a bowl with a spoon. Let cool/harden, and then cover with plastic wrap until ready to use. Sadly I did not have time to spoon my natillas into a cinnamon shell, but I plan to enjoy them tonight.
Farewell Old Man Gloom! This one’s for you 

Natillas - Sweet Custard, adapted from here
Ingredients,
1 Cup Milk
5 Egg yolks
1 cup Flour
3 cups Milk
1 cup Sugar
2 tbsp Vanilla
Beat the 5 egg yolks. Add to 1 cup of milk. Mix 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of sugar. Warm 3 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons vanilla, add egg yolk mixture slowly and boil to thicken. Before serving, whip the egg whites to a peak, add 1/4 cup of sugar and fold the Natillas and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Cinnamon Tortilla Shells, my own original recipe
Ingredients,
1 Flour tortilla, (preferably not burrito sized like mine)
1 Tbsp of margarine, halved OR butter flavored cooking spray
2 Tbsp sugar, separated
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Heat a skillet pan over medium heat, either spray it down or add ½ tbsp margarine. Let it heat up/melt. Add tortilla and spray/add margarine to upward side. Once melted sprinkle sugar and cinnamon across, and flip. Add sugar and cinnamon to other side. Flip constantly. Once both sides have a light caramel color, remove and immediately press it into a bowl with a spoon. Let cool/harden, and then cover with plastic wrap until ready to use.