Colombian Dessert

Postre de Natas

Postre de Natas is an old Colombian milk dessert made by repeatedly collecting delicate cream skins and folding them into a light syrup. This version uses measured ingredients, clear visual cues and the traditional flavour balance that makes the dish distinctive.

Jump to recipe More Colombian food
20 minsPrep time
2 hrCook time
Serves 8Servings
HardDifficulty
Postre de Natas
About this dish

Postre de Natas: the story on the plate

Postre de Natas is a Colombian dessert with a clear sense of place. Postre de natas is a traditional Colombian dessert with roots in colonial dairy cookery. Its defining technique uses the cream-rich skins that form on slowly heated milk. The recipe below keeps the defining ingredients and technique intact while giving practical metric quantities and enough detail for a home cook to judge texture, seasoning and doneness rather than simply follow a timer.

Historical background

Postre de natas is a traditional Colombian dessert with roots in colonial dairy cookery. Its defining technique uses the cream-rich skins that form on slowly heated milk.

Why it is famous

The time-intensive method makes it a dessert of patience and domestic tradition, very different from modern quick custards.

Cultural significance

The time-intensive method makes it a dessert of patience and domestic tradition, very different from modern quick custards.

Nutrition

Estimated nutrition per serving

These figures are estimates per serving. Actual nutrition can vary with the brands and exact amounts you use, how much oil, dressing or sauce is absorbed, any substitutions or added extras, and the portion size served.

A practical guide for comparing recipes and planning meals.

330Calories
8gProtein
48gCarbs
12gFat
Ingredients

What you need

  • 3000 whole milk, preferably non-homogenised
  • 300 caster sugar
  • 200 water
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla
  • 60 Raisins, optional
  • 1 cinnamon stick
Method

Step-by-step method

Follow the recipe in order, tasting and adjusting seasoning where needed.

  1. Pour 1 litre milk into the widest saucepan you have and bring very slowly just to a simmer. Lower the heat until the surface is almost still and a skin begins forming.
  2. As each thick milk skin forms, lift it gently with a slotted spoon onto a tray. Add more milk to the pan in stages and repeat. Patience matters: stirring prevents the natas from forming.
  3. Simmer sugar, water and cinnamon for 8 minutes to make a light syrup. Remove cinnamon.
  4. Whisk yolks in a bowl. Temper with a ladle of warm syrup, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pan over low heat until very lightly thickened; do not boil.
  5. Fold the collected milk skins into the syrup with vanilla and optional raisins, preserving their soft folds rather than breaking them into paste.
  6. Cool completely, then chill for several hours. Serve small portions because the flavour is delicate but rich.
Cook smarter

Tips, storage and serving advice

Shopping tips

Choose pre-cooked maize flour labelled for arepas/empanadas, firm green plantains for savoury dishes and very ripe black-speckled plantains for sweets. Fresh coriander and good avocados make a noticeable difference. Check labels on compound ingredients such as sauces, spice blends, stocks, kimchi, fermented pastes and prepared breads when cooking for allergies.

Ingredient quality

For Postre de Natas, prioritise fresh or properly stored versions of whole milk, caster sugar, water, egg yolks; speciality seasonings should smell vivid rather than stale.

Common mistakes

Boiling or stirring the milk prevents proper skins; homogenised low-fat milk produces weak natas; boiling after adding yolks can scramble them.

Chef’s tips

Use the broadest pan possible: more surface area creates more skin and shortens the process.

How to know it is cooked

The collected natas are thick enough to lift intact and the finished syrup lightly coats rather than curdles around them.

Plating advice

Serve chilled in small glass dishes so the folded natas are visible.

Cook next

Keep exploring the country’s food story through related starters, mains and desserts.

View cuisine
Cocadas

Cocadas

Cocadas is chewy Colombian coconut sweets cooked with panela and milk until caramelised, then spoon…
Brevas con Arequipe

Brevas con Arequipe

Brevas con Arequipe is green figs simmered until tender in panela syrup and served with thick Colom…
Torta de Tres Leches

Torta de Tres Leches

Torta de Tres Leches is a light Colombian-style sponge saturated with three milks and finished with…
Arepas de Choclo

Arepas de Choclo

Arepas de Choclo is sweet Colombian fresh-corn arepas griddled with butter and stuffed with melting…