Have you ever heard of atole? It is a traditional hot drink, typical of Guatemala, but widespread throughout South America.  Thick, creamy and comforting, flavoured with spices and aromas, it is ideal for finding refreshment in cold temperatures... at altitudes of over 2000 metres above sea level.

The origins of this drink, already widespread before the arrival of the Spaniards, go back a long way and there are several variations of it: The atole with rice and chocolate much used on festive days, the one with rice and milk excellent with cinnamon, the white atole with maize paste, flavoured with lemon and chile cobanero, the one with plantain, the one with maize also in grains, the atole shuco with a sour taste that requires a long preparation, the one from Ixpasa typical of the commemoration of the dead, prepared with black maize; The atolillo one of the most popular, made with rice, the one from Guayaba, with broad beans and the atole de tres cocimientos probably the oldest.

Let's prepare together a cinnamon-flavoured atole

How about trying making a contemporary version of the atole, with corn starch, milk and cinnamon-flavoured coffee?
For your atole you will need:
1 litre of milk (vegetable milk is also fine if you follow a vegan or vegetarian diet), 80 g of condensed milk (you can prepare a vegetable version using vegetable milk, vegetable butter and cornstarch), 1 vanilla stick, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 tablespoons of instant coffee, 4 tablespoons of cornstarch and cinnamon powder to taste.
Preparation: Pour the milk and condensed milk into a sufficiently large saucepan. Stir in the vanilla, cinnamon and corn starch, which you have to moisten and dissolve in a little warm water. Stir well, avoiding the formation of lumps, place the pan on the heat, continuing to stir, and let it simmer for at least 5 minutes.
At this point your atole is ready to enjoy with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.