Arepa is a special dessert that is traditionally prepared in an iron pot on top of red-hot coal. A metal lid is placed on top of the pot and then more coal is put on top of the lid. This led to the expression “como la Arepa, fuego por arriba y fuego por abajo” (Like an Arepa, fire underneath, fire on top), meaning being in a crossfire. Assuming you are not equipped to bake it the traditional way, for this recipe we will use a regular oven.
Time: 1 hr. Serves: 4
Before starting to cook: Grease a baking deep-bottomed baking pan with butter. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoons of softened butter
- 3 cups of evaporated milk
- 3 cups of water
- 2 cups of corn flour
- 1 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 cup of raisins
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 1 cup of coconut milk
Preparation:
- Mix all the ingredients and let rest. Put in an iron pot and put on the stove, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. When it breaks a boil lower the fire to medium and continue stirring until it reaches cream cheese-like consistency.
- Pour batter into the baking pan and bake for 30-60 minutes (until you insert a knife in the center and it comes out clean), it should be golden brown on top. Let it cool down to almost room temperature before removing from the pan.
- Serve with hot cocoa or coffee.
Aunt Clara's Kitchen is a collection of traditional Dominican and Dominican-inspired recipes, home ideas, crafts, and the chronicles of Aunt Clara and Aunt Ilana's adventures.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
i have a question about the flour. in my country we have 3 diferente types of corn flour and non of them look like anything used in any other country. how does the corn flour, that should be used here, look like? is that the very fine white corn flour, or is it the fine yellow one, or the yellow one with tiny pieces of corn? these are the types i can find around where i live at the moment…i hope it's one of those…..
I am Puerto Rican & I love this dessert (comfort food)!!! My ex mother in law used to make it. When she moved back to DR I used to buy it at the "bodega". Then I found Aunt Clara's website & the recipe for this dessert. I was thrilled to say the least, So I made it & it tastes awesome!!! Thank you Aunt Clara. I love this website along with all the dominican cooking.
The recipe for Arepa is not the same in English or Spanish. Which is the correct one? Amounts and techniques are very important in baking and I would like to not have another failed attempt from your dessert/bread selections.
Is what you call corn flour the same as corn meal ??
You can buy it under the name cornmeal.
I'm still confused about the corn flour and corn meal. Should I use the one with the really fine texture (the white one"Maseca" I think :/) or the yellow one with tiny pieces??!! How it looks like? Please… I'm dying to make this recipe.
The spanish version of this recipe says 200 degrees celsius and the English version says 350 degrees Fahrenheit. These are two different temperatures. We started at 350F but after one hour of cooking it was still raw in the middle, we cranked it up to 390F and put it in for another 20 minutes. Fingers crossed!