Pudim, or Brazilian Flan
My family's favorite dessert
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 5 yolks
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 can evaporated milk
- ½ cup whole milk (half-and-half or 2% milk may be substituted but do not use skim milk)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon Disaronno liquor
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Caramel
- Stir together the sugar and ¼ cup water in a small heavy saucepan until the sugar is completely moistened.
- Bring to boil over medium-high heat and cook, without stirring, until the mixture begins to turn golden.
- Gently swirling the pan, continue to cook until sugar is a honey color. Remove from the heat and swirl the pan until the sugar is reddish-amber and fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds.
- Carefully swirl in 2 tablespoons of warm tap water until incorporated – be careful as the mixture will bubble and steam. This whole process should take less than 10 minutes.
- Pour the caramel into an 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan; do not scrape out the saucepan. Set the pan aside.
Other Ingredients
- Whisk the eggs and yolks in large bowl until combined.
- Add the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, whole milk, vanilla, Disaronno, and salt and whisk until incorporated.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl to remove any bits of egg; then pour the strained custard into the pan over the caramel.
- Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.
Baking
- Place the pan in the center of a 9x13-inch baking or roasting pan (preferably with high sides) to make a water bath.
- Place the nested pans in the oven; then, using a tea kettle or pitcher, pour hot water around the loaf pan until it reaches about halfway up the sides of the pan.
- Bake for 90 minutes. Very carefully pull back the foil (there will be steam that has accumulated under it) to ensure the custard is set around the edges but still a bit jiggly in the center.
- Carefully remove the pans from the oven. Remove the foil and leave the flan in the water bath for 1 hour to cool.
- Remove the loaf pan from the water bath and wipe the pan dry.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge overnight or up to 4 days.
Unmolding the Flan
- Carefully slide a sharp knife around the edges of the pan.
- Invert a platter with a raised rim (to contain the liquid caramel) on top of the flan and turn the pan and platter over.
- If the flan doesn’t release immediately, let it sit inverted for a minute and it should slide out. If it still doesn't come out, try running the knife around the edges again.
- When the flan is released, remove the pan.