Cream caramel

“Pudim de leite” or cream caramel is a dessert that many people who grew up in Brazil during the eighties and nineties adore and it has got a double sweet meaning for me…

When I was a child, watching my mum preparing a cream caramel would be a good indication that a festive date was approaching and with it a new opportunity to share happy moments around the table with people I loved… It could be my grandparents coming for a Sunday lunch, our birthdays, Easter or even Christmas.

For my take on the original recipe I have added a bit of double cream to increase the smoothness of the texture and the caramel I make is slightly on the dark brown side to add bitterness to the sweetness of the custard, helping to balance the flavours. This recipe is as simple and sweet as my childhood was and it remains one of my favourite desserts. I hope you will enjoy it too!

Level of difficulty

Medium

Course

Bake |  Dessert |  Treat

Serves

8

Preparation time

30 minutes

Cooking time

1 hour

Ingredients

For the caramel

• 160 g of sugar
• 100 ml of water

For the custard

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (397g)
• 300 ml of whole milk
• 100 ml of double cream
• 3 medium eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanila essence

Preparation

For the caramel

1. Place 8 molds (200 ml ) in the oven at 100 °C to warm them up.
2. Place the sugar and the water into a stainless steel pan and stir with a wooden or silicone spoon over a low heat.
3. When the sugar is completely dissolved, stop stirring and let it boil until the caramel becomes dark golden.
4. When the caramel has the desired colour, immediately take the pan from the heat to ensure that it does not burn. (See tips below)
5. Remove the molds from the oven and line them while still warm with equal portions of the caramel.
6. Set the molds aside for the caramel to cool down and become hard.

For the custard

1. Preheat the oven to 120 °C.
2. Place all the ingredients for the custard in a blender and blend them until perfectly combined.
3. Pour equal portions of the mixture into the molds lined with caramel and cover them with aluminium foil.
4. Place the molds in a roasting pan, fill the roasting pan half-way with boiling water and bake the cream caramels in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the mixture has set (see tips for the right point).
5. When cold tip the molds (around 45 degrees) and loose round the edges with a butter knife. Place a serving plate on top of the molds and turn them upside down to remove the molds.
6. Leave in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

Tips

• A perfect caramel can very quickly become completely burnt so keep your eye on the ball during the sugar caramelisation process.
• At the recommended cooking time, shake the molds delicately (using a thermal glove or tea towel!) before removing them from the oven. If the mixture is still liquid instead of wobbly, let them bake for an extra 5 minutes and repeat the process, until the custard has set.
• Instead of individual servings, this recipe can be made in a 20 cm bundt cake tin. For that, follow the same process, but bake it for about 60 minutes instead of 30 minutes.
• We can’t rush perfection :)! Don’t be tempted to increase the suggested temperature to speed up the cooking time because the custard will curdle and instead of a deliciously silky and creamy dessert, you will have a dessert that will resemble a sweet scrambled egg…
• Do not use a non-stick pan to make the caramel nor a non-stick bundt cake tin to bake the cream caramel because the caramel will crystallise and the recipe won’t work.