Sopa De Natillas
"Custard Soup"
From the treasured pages of Libor de Gisados de Maria Guadalupe Reyes
Written by Maria Guadalupe Reyes
Sopa De Natillas
"Se vaten las Natillas con una poca de Leche Azucar competente Yemas de huevo y en una Cazuela embarrada de Manteca se va poniendo mamon en Leche hasta qe. se llene luego se echa el batido por encima mucha Natilla ya que se a dos fuegos y ente se le echa Canela por encima."
English Translation
"The custards are beaten with a little milk, enough sugar, egg yolks, and in a pan greased with butter, you put sponge cake in milk until it is filled, then you pour the beaten mixture on top, a lot of custard, then it goes on two fires and between them, you sprinkle cinnamon on top."
Note on the Original Text
The recipe, like many of its time, is terse and intended for cooks already familiar with domestic techniques. Quantities are relative ('poca de leche', 'competente yemas de huevo'), and steps assume a grasp of how to layer and bake custard-soaked breads. Spelling reflects early-19th-century Mexican orthography—'vaten' for 'baten' (whisk), 'cazuela embarrada de manteca' (casserole smeared with butter/lard), 'mamon' (soft cake or bread). The absence of times and temperatures requires an experienced cook to judge doneness by look and feel, a skill expected in historic kitchens.
Title
Libor de Gisados de Maria Guadalupe Reyes (1828)
You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome
Writer
Maria Guadalupe Reyes
Era
1828
Publisher
Unknown
Background
A handwritten treasure of 19th-century Mexican cuisine, this delightful manuscript brims with over 300 recipes ranging from festive traditional dishes to indulgent desserts. Explore ancestral flavors, ceremonial dishes like totolmole oaxaqueño, and sweet treats such as pollas borrachas, all artfully captured in Maria Guadalupe Reyes's elegant script.
Kindly made available by
University of Texas at San Antonio
Sopa de Natillas appears in the 1828 manuscript 'Libor de Gisados y repostería de Maria Guadalupe Reyes', a remarkable culinary notebook documenting Mexican recipes from the early 19th century. At this time, Mexican kitchens were a blend of Spanish, Indigenous, and other European culinary influences. Recipes were often passed down orally or recorded in household notebooks like this one, reflecting both everyday and celebratory fare. This particular dish exemplifies the adaptation of European-style custards (notably natillas, a Spanish dessert) into local tradition, using readily available dairy, eggs, and breads, layered and finished with the ever-popular cinnamon.
The original recipe would have been made using a large earthenware or clay cazuela (casserole dish), a wooden whisk for beating egg yolks and sugar, and simple kitchen knives. The baking or setting would be done over an open fire or in a wood-fired oven, often with heat coming both from below and from above, by using embers placed on top of a heavy lid. Cinnamon would be ground with a mortar and pestle. All utensils and mixing bowls would be rustic, likely hand-crafted, and the butter used to grease the cazuela would be freshly churned.
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Servings
6
We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!
Ingredients
- 1 cup natillas (thick custard; can substitute a homemade or store-bought vanilla custard)
- 2 cups whole milk, plus 1 cup for soaking bread
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 7 oz soft white bread (crusts removed)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (for greasing)
- Ground cinnamon, to taste
Instructions
- Start by whisking together 4 egg yolks, 2 cups whole milk, 1/3 cup sugar, and 1 cup of prepared natillas (a thick Spanish-style custard).
- In a deep pan or casserole dish, grease generously with 2 tablespoons unsalted butter.
- Layer slices of soft white bread (about 7 oz, crusts removed and soaked in an additional 1 cup of milk) into the dish until it is full.
- Pour the natilla and egg mixture evenly over the bread.
- Sprinkle generously with ground cinnamon.
- Bake in a moderate oven (340°F) for about 25-30 minutes, or until just set and lightly golden on top.
- Serve warm, dusted with additional cinnamon if desired.
Estimated Calories
245 per serving
Cooking Estimates
It takes about 15 minutes to prepare the ingredients and assemble everything. Then, the pudding bakes for 30 minutes. Each serving has about 245 calories, and this recipe makes 6 servings.
As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.
We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.
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