Recipe · Dessert · Lima and criolla cooking
Mazamorra morada
Purple corn pudding with fresh and dried fruit, thickened with starch and scented with cinnamon. Six small portions, from an unsweetened purple corn decoction.
- Makes 6 small portions
- 30 minutes with the decoction ready, 1 hr 30 min starting from the corn (estimate)
- Easy
- Vegetarian, judging by the ingredients
A purple pudding of corn, fresh fruit and dried fruit, scented with cinnamon: mazamorra morada is Lima’s dessert for the month of October, that of the Señor de los Milagros processions. It is eaten lukewarm or cold, often with arroz con leche.
A dessert born of an Andean drink
According to Wikipedia, mazamorra descends from api morado, a thick purple corn drink drunk for centuries in southern Peru, which mestizo cooks crossed with European tastes. The purple corn is boiled with pineapple peel, cinnamon, cloves and fruit; it is strained, then dried fruit (prunes, apricots, dried peaches) and a thickener are added, traditionally sweet potato flour.
The decoction first
This version starts from an unsweetened purple corn decoction: the one from the chicha morada, taken out before adding the sugar and lime. Cornflour replaces sweet potato flour, which is harder to find in Switzerland.
Our version
The starch keeps thickening as it cools: the texture changes a great deal between the saucepan and the fridge. Stop cooking when the pudding coats the spoon.
Ingredients
Makes 6 small portions
Estimated preparation time
- Advance preparation
- 1 hour for the purple corn decoction (see chicha morada), not needed if it is ready
- Active time
- 15 minutes
- Cooking
- 10 to 12 minutes
- Resting
- 30 minutes to cool slightly, 2 hours to serve it cold
- Total
- 30 minutes with the decoction ready, 1 hr 30 min starting from the corn
Techniques: Simmering.
Tick off the ingredients as you go: the boxes are remembered on this device.
Useful equipment
- A saucepan
- A whisk
- A small bowl for mixing
- Bowls or small glasses
Method
- Simmer 850 ml of decoction with the apple, pineapple, dried fruit, sugar, cinnamon and cloves for 8 to 10 minutes, until the fruit is tender.
- Mix the cornflour into the remaining 150 ml of decoction, well chilled, until there are no lumps left.
- Remove the cinnamon and cloves. Pour the mixed cornflour into the saucepan in a thin stream, whisking constantly.
- Cook over a low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring: the mixture thickens all at once, becomes glossy and loses its milky look. Do not boil it for long, or the starch will lose its thickening power.
- Off the heat, add the lime, taste and adjust the sugar.
- Divide between the bowls. Serve lukewarm, dusted with cinnamon, or cool quickly and then chill to serve it cold.
Signs of success
- Hot, the mazamorra coats the spoon like a thick custard; it firms up as it cools.
- It is dark purple, glossy, with no taste of raw flour.
- Cold, it holds on the spoon without being rubbery: if it is too firm, reduce the cornflour by 10 g next time.
Precautions
- Always mix the starch into a cold liquid: poured into hot liquid, it forms lumps.
Allergens identified
No major allergen in the list of ingredients.
No major allergen identified in this list of ingredients; some dried fruit contains sulphites.
Always check the labels of the products you buy (sauces, stocks, chilli pastes).
Variations and tips
- The “clásico”: half mazamorra, half arroz con leche in the same bowl.
- With sweet potato flour, the traditional thickener according to Wikipedia, instead of cornflour.
- With “huesillos” (dried peaches) and quinces, as in many families.
Reasonable substitutions
- Potato starch: it thickens faster and gives a more elastic texture; reduce the quantity by a quarter.
Storage
- Cooled dessert: in the fridge, below 5 °C; in the fridge within one to two hours of cooking, to be eaten within 48 hours or frozen.
Going further
Sources and dates
2 sources
Prices, opening hours and rules change: every piece of information cited links to its source, with the date it was consulted.
Figures and rules cited
- in the fridge, below 5 °C: Storing meat, poultry, fish, seafood and leftovers (Switzerland) . The FSVO also asks you not to refreeze food that has been thawed.
Official source: FSVO, Hygiène et aliments (food hygiene, in French) (new tab) · consulted on 3 October 2026 - in the fridge within one to two hours of cooking, to be eaten within 48 hours or frozen: Cooling and keeping cooked leftovers (United Kingdom) . The same source asks you to thaw food in the fridge and to eat thawed food within 24 hours.
Official source: GOV.UK (Food Standards Agency), cooling, freezing and defrosting food safely (18 December 2017) (new tab) , published on 18 December 2017 · consulted on 3 October 2026
Sources consulted
- Wikipedia (Spanish), Mazamorra morada (October, sweet potato flour, dried fruit, “clásico”) (new tab) (consulted on 3 October 2026)
- PROMPERÚ, Lima’s cuisine (desserts: mazamorra morada, arroz con leche) (new tab) (consulted on 3 October 2026)
How we choose and date our information: our method. Has something changed? Let us know.