Pudim de Leite

Brazil (Portuguese flan tradition adapted with condensed milk, 19th century)

Pudim de leite is Brazil's national dessert — a condensed milk flan cooked in a caramel-lined mould (forma de pudim), unmoulded to reveal a trembling, silky custard beneath a generous pool of amber caramel. The Brazilian version differs from French crème caramel and Spanish flan in its use of condensed milk in addition to or instead of fresh cream, which provides a denser, more milky-sweet flavour and a firmer, more yielding texture. The caramel must be cooked to a dark amber — pale caramel produces an overly sweet, one-dimensional pudim; dark caramel provides the bitter contrast essential to the dessert's balance. The mould must be lined while the caramel is hot and still pourable, and the custard baked in a water bath at low temperature.

Served at the end of a churrasco or family lunch on Sundays; the dark caramel provides the bitter counterpoint the sweet condensed milk custard requires; a small bica of espresso coffee alongside.