Atole de Maís

This cold January weather makes me think of the creamy atole de maís my mother used to make.  The last time she made it for me was a few years ago when she visited me in the fall and we shared a bowl one cold afternoon for la merienda.

Some people put vanilla in theirs; in my family it's just the corn masa, sugar, cinnamon, and milk.  For the corn masa, you can use Maseca, a corn meal used to make tortillas. Our mother usually served us this atole for breakfast.

Floria's Atole de Maís

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of Maseca corn meal
3 tablespoons sugar
2 cups milk warmed in a 1 quart pot
2 large cinnamon sticks broken up
2 vanilla pods


Preparation:
Place one cup of milk in a pot and warm over medium-low heat on the stove.  Gradually whip 1 cup of milk with a small whisk in to a bowl containing the masa.  When the corn meal and milk mixture in the cup is smooth, slowly add it to the milk on the stove. Continue to heat the atole in the pot,  adding the sugar and broken up cinnamon sticks. You may also add the vanilla.  Cook until the mixture begins to thicken. Some like it watery, others like it thicker. Stop cooking it when it's got the consistency you like.

Pour it into a bowl and eat it while warm.