Horchata (pronounced or-chah-ta) is a creamy Mexican drink that’s usually made with rice milk, vanilla, cinnamon, water, and a sweetener. Sometimes almonds are also added to this drink as a thickening and flavoring agent. It’s a very easy and delicious drink to make because all you have to do is soak the rice and almonds, then blitz them in a blender along with the aromatics. The final step is to strain the drink so the final product is smooth yet creamy. Besides relishing it as a cold drink on a warm summer day, horchata, and its primary flavors, can also be incorporated into desserts too.
Let’s learn how to make horchata at home, and how to infuse desserts with this flavor too. Keep reading to find out how to make this drink at home without putting in too much of an effort.
Horchata
Ingredients:
- 244 gm uncooked, long grain white rice
- 50 gm sliced almonds
- 2 whole cinnamon sticks
- 945 ml cold water
- 475 ml milk (you can also use non-dairy milk)
- 100 gm sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
Rinse the rice well to get rid of excess starch and impurities. You can soak it for a couple of hours or overnight too.
Then drain it and blend it along with sliced almonds, and cinnamon sticks.
Next add water, vanilla extract, sugar and blend well again.
Transfer into a jug and add the milk. Give this a good mix.
Chill in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours, then strain using a nut bag or a fine mesh sieve.
Serve chilled and with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.
Here are some horchata-flavored dessert recipes:
Horchata Custard Pie
Ingredients:
For the pie crust:
- 156 gm flour
- 113 gm cold, cubed butter
- ½ tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3-4 tbsp cold water
For the custard filling:
- 113 gm softened butter
- 100 gm sugar
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 240 ml horchata
- 2 tbsp flour
Instructions:
- Mix flour, cold butter, sugar, and salt together. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until you get a crumbly dough.
- Then slowly incorporate the water and mix. You should get a firm dough, but if it’s still crumbly then add another splash of water.
- Roll it into a dough, wrap in cling film, and refrigerate.
- For the pie filling, cream butter, sugar and salt with the eggs.
- Then add the horchata and flour, and whisk again.
- Roll out the cooled pie dough, making sure that it’s slightly bigger than the pie pan. Flip it onto the pie tin and then press it into the bottom and the sides. Trim the excess dough.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, line the pie crust with parchment paper, fill it with uncooked rice and blind bake for 10 minutes.
- Then poke some holes in the pie crust and bake again for 10 minutes. Let it cool.
- Pour the horchata flavored custard into the pie crust and bake at 200°C for 10 minutes. Then bring down the temperature to 175°C and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the custard is set.
- Let the pie cool before enjoying it.
Horchata Ice Cream
Ingredients:
- 480 ml horchata
- 240 ml heavy cream
- 120 ml condensed milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Sliced almonds for garnish
Instructions:
- Mix all he ingredients, barring the sliced almonds, together and then pour them into an ice cream maker.
- Churn until you reach an ice cream-like consistency, then transfer into a storage container and pop it in the freezer.
- Serve big scoops of this ice cream garnished with sliced almonds.