Pudim de Leite Condensado

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •20 cm (8-inch) aluminum ring mold with center tube, about 1.5-liter capacity
• •Deep roasting pan large enough to hold the mold
• •Small saucepan for caramel
• •Blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Aluminum foil
• •Kettle or saucepan for boiling water

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the bath

   Heat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Set a rack in the middle, choose a deep roasting pan that can hold your ring mold, and bring a kettle or saucepan of water to a boil. This is not ceremony. The low oven and hot water bath keep the custard cooking gently, so the eggs set smooth instead of tightening fast and making holes.

2. 2

   Start the caramel

   Put the sugar and 1/3 cup water in a small saucepan. Stir only until the sugar is evenly wet, then stop stirring and set the pan over medium heat. Let it bubble until it turns amber, the color of dark honey, swirling the pan now and then if the edges color first. Stirring after it boils can make the sugar seize and turn grainy, and a grainy caramel will not pour cleanly.

   Caramel is very hot and unforgiving. Keep your fingers away from it, use a dry towel or oven mitt, and don't taste it from the spoon. This is not the moment to prove courage.
3. 3

   Coat the mold

   The second the caramel reaches amber and smells toasty, pour it into a 20 cm (8-inch) ring mold. Tilt the mold carefully so the caramel coats the bottom and climbs a little up the sides and center tube. It will harden and may crack as it cools. That's normal. The heat of the baking custard loosens it later into the sauce that runs over the pudim.

4. 4

   Blend the custard

   Add the condensed milk, whole milk, eggs, vanilla if using, and salt if using to a blender. Blend on low just until smooth, about 10 to 15 seconds. Stop as soon as the mixture is uniform. More blending doesn't make it better; it beats in air, and that air becomes furinhos when it bakes.

5. 5

   Rest and strain

   Let the custard sit for 5 minutes, then skim off any thick foam and pour it through a fine-mesh strainer into the caramel-coated mold. The rest lets bubbles rise, and the strainer catches stubborn egg bits. This is how you get a clean, silky pudim without pretending there was mystery involved.

6. 6

   Set the bath

   Cover the mold tightly with foil. Put the roasting pan on the pulled-out oven rack, set the filled mold inside it, then pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the mold. Doing this on the rack saves you from carrying a sloshing pan across the kitchen, which is the kind of lesson I learned the annoying way.

7. 7

   Bake gently

   Bake for 70 to 85 minutes. Check by nudging the mold: the edges should be set and the center should tremble like soft gelatin, not slosh like milk. If the water level drops too low, add more hot water around the mold. Don't chase a firm center in the oven, because the pudim keeps setting as it cools. Overbake it and you get rubber with caramel, and nobody asked for that.

8. 8

   Cool and chill

   Lift the mold out of the water bath and remove the foil. Let it cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Warm pudim lies. It looks set, then collapses when you unmold it. Cold custard holds its shape and gives you that glossy, trembling slice.

9. 9

   Unmold cleanly

   Run a thin knife around the outer edge and the center tube. Set the bottom of the cold mold in a shallow pan of hot water for 15 to 20 seconds to loosen the caramel. Place a wide plate over the mold, flip both together, and wait a few seconds before lifting the mold. If it clings, warm the bottom again. Don't shake it like you're mad at it. The caramel needs a little time to let go.

Chef Tips

• •The blender is the honest shortcut here. It makes the custard smooth in seconds, but it beats in air too, so rest and strain the mixture before it goes in the mold. That's how you save time without buying furinhos.
• •Don't use powdered flan mix. That's not pudim, that's a packet selling you the idea that eggs and milk are beyond you. They're not. Anota aí.
• •Pull the caramel at amber, not black. It should smell toasty, not burnt. A bitter caramel bullies the whole dessert and no amount of custard will fix it.
• •Use whole milk for the familiar tender body. If all you have is 2 percent milk, the pudim will still work, but it sets a little thinner and tastes less like the one people remember from Sunday lunch.
• •Chill overnight if you can. A pudim unmolded too early looks brave for three seconds and then slumps, and you did not come this far to learn that lesson on the plate.

Advance Preparation

• •Pudim needs at least 6 hours in the refrigerator before unmolding. Overnight is better and makes serving calmer.
• •You can bake it 1 to 2 days ahead and keep it covered in the mold in the refrigerator. Unmold the day you serve.
• •Leftovers keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The caramel gets looser as it sits, which is not a problem.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 160g)