Puerto Rican Coconut Pudding (Tembleque)

Name: Puerto Rican Coconut Pudding (Tembleque)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Puerto Rico
Ingredients: 2 cans (13.5 oz / 400 ml each) unsweetened full-fat coconut crema (about 3 1/3 cups / 800 ml total); 1 cup (240 ml) water; 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar; 2/3 cup (80 g) cornstarch; 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) salt; 1 cinnamon stick (about 3 inches / 7.5 cm); 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract; 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for dusting

Tembleque Say it: tem-BLEH-keh

By the Passport Plate editors. Published November 5, 2026.

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Tembleque is Puerto Rico's trembling coconut pudding, named for temblar, 'to tremble,' because a well-set one quivers when the plate is tapped. Cornstarch thickens sweetened coconut into a glossy, sliceable custard that needs no oven and no eggs. It appears at Christmas tables and birthday parties, and just as often on an ordinary Tuesday, chilled and dusted with cinnamon. The flavor is pure toasted-sweet coconut, the texture smooth and light, and it takes barely twenty minutes at the stove.

Puerto Rican Coconut Pudding (Tembleque)

Tembleque

Pronounced tem-BLEH-keh

Serves: 6
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 20 min
Total: 30 min
Level: Easy

Also nut-free and egg-free.

Allergens: none of the major allergens in the listed ingredients. Check labels on packaged ingredients.

Ingredients

6 servings

Pudding

2 cans (13.5 oz / 400 ml each) unsweetened full-fat coconut crema (about 3 1/3 cups / 800 ml total)
1 cup (240 ml)240 ml (1 cup) water
1/2 cup (100 g)100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (80 g)80 g (2/3 cup) cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g)1.5 g (1/4 teaspoon) salt
1 cinnamon stick (about 3 inches / 7.5 cm)
1 teaspoon (5 ml)5 ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract

To finish

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for dusting

Method

Pour the coconut crema and water into a medium saucepan and whisk until evenly blended. Whisk in the sugar, cornstarch and salt until completely smooth and no dry streaks remain, then drop in the cinnamon stick.
Set the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and scraping the bottom and corners, until the mixture thickens and bubbles slowly at the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. It is ready when it coats the spoon heavily and a spoon drawn across the bottom leaves a brief clean line.
Lower the heat and simmer gently, still stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes more, until the pudding is glossy, very thick and no longer tastes starchy.
Take the pan off the heat, lift out the cinnamon stick and stir in the vanilla. Pour into an 8-inch (20-cm) square dish or six small ramekins, smoothing the surface with a spatula.
Let it cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, until no longer steaming, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
The pudding is set when it is firm to the touch and quivers gently as a whole when the dish is tapped. Cut into squares in the dish, or run a thin knife around the edge and invert onto a plate.
Dust generously with ground cinnamon just before serving.

Regional variants

Some cooks drop a strip of orange zest into the pot alongside the cinnamon stick, or stir a teaspoon of dark rum in with the vanilla; a few fold in toasted coconut for extra texture.

Cook's notes

Whisk the cornstarch into the cold liquid before the pan goes on the heat; once it is hot, stir without stopping and scrape the corners so no lumps or scorched spots form.
Use unsweetened, full-fat canned coconut, not the sweetened cocktail mixer also sold as crema de coco, and whisk the can well first, since the fat separates and settles on top.
Chill overnight for clean, neat squares, and wipe the knife between cuts.

Serve with

Serve chilled, dusted with cinnamon, with a cup of Puerto Rican coffee or a small glass of rum.

Make ahead and storage

Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days; dust with cinnamon just before serving.

Puerto Rican Coconut Pudding (Tembleque)