Costa Rican Orange Pudding

This delicious Atol de Naranja - Costa Rican Orange Pudding recipe is made with fresh orange juice and served with ground cinnamon. This pudding is full of orange flavor with a jello like dessert to enjoy the flavors of Costa Rica.

Ingredients and substitutions for Costa Rican Orange Pudding

• Orange juice: Fresh orange juice is best thanks to the lack of any additives and it's full bodied flavor that will still shine through in spite of the sugar. Medium Valencia or Naval oranges will work perfectly, though you could replace with blood oranges, if you prefer.
• Sugar: Light brown sugar adds a caramel undertone to our pudding with dark brown adding too much flavor. You could replace with superfine or caster sugar or even raw sugar here, if you prefer, though the flavor might be a little more sweet and less nuanced.
• Corn starch: Sometimes termed cornflour in certain parts of the globe. Corn starch is what gives our pudding that thick texture without being runny. It does need to be heated to 95C/203F before it is activated to thicken.
• Butter: The small amount of butter adds a light richness to the pudding, though you could omit, if you prefer.
• Ground cinnamon: The light topping of cinnamon adds depth of flavor to the pudding, you could add a little vanilla extract for vanilla flavor in it's place.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Costa Rican Orange Pudding:

Step 1: Make the pudding: Heat the orange juice, corn starch and sugar in a saucepan and stir until thickened.

Step 2: Butta: Add the butter into the pudding and stir through to melt and combine.

Step 3: Serving glasses: Pour the pudding into your serving glasses and refrigerate to set.

Step 4: Sprinkle and serve: Top the pudding with ground cinnamon and serve.

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Orange Pudding

Like Costa Rica itself, this Atol de Naranja - Costa Rican Orange Pudding recipe is an understated dish that uses simple ingredients and is closer to jello than anything else, which will makes kids and adults alike feel 'Pura Vida'.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Chill time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Costa Rican

Servings 4

Calories 323 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 568 grams / 2 cups orange juice 8 medium oranges, juiced
• 200 grams / 1 cup light brown sugar
• 50 grams / ½ cup cornstarch
• 14 grams / 1 tablespoon butter

To serve

• Dash of ground cinnamon

Instructions

 

• Place the orange juice, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and on high heat whisking until it reaches a simmer and the juice goes from cloudy to almost translucent, this will happen quickly!
• Remove from the heat and add in the tablespoon of butter, stirring until the butter has melted and the pudding is smooth.
• Pour into serving dishes and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Sprinkle a little of the ground cinnamon over and serve.
• Dig in!

Video

Notes

• Replacing the orange juice with storebought: You could definitely replace the fresh orange juice with storebought, however, the amount of sugar in this recipe is quite high, with how sweet some purchased orange juices are, you might want to limit the sugar to 150 grams/3/4 cup brown sugar.
• Ground cinnamon: The light topping of cinnamon adds depth of flavor to the pudding, you could add a little vanilla extract for vanilla flavor in it's place.
• As the pudding thickens: Stir or whisk the pudding constantly to ensure it thickens evenly and to avoid burning the burning on the base of the saucepan.

Adapted from Costarica.com

Nutrition

Calories: 323kcal

Keyword citrus, gluten free, no bake dessert

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