Condensed milk Pudding recipe

I can’t remember the first time that I had pudim de leite condensado, but I do know that I liked it and that it almost immediately became one of my favorite desserts. pudim de leite condensado is basically what it says it is: a condensed milk pudding. It is similar to the French Flan; it has caramel, and is baked in a banho-maria (also known as a bain-marie), and has a similar taste and texture. All that you need for this easy dessert is, you guessed it, sweetened condensed milk, whole milk, eggs, and sugar!

Brazilians love this dessert and eat it at any opportunity they get. And, so do I!

My husband has always been the one who made pudim de leite condensado, but I took this task away from him a couple of weeks ago when I first tried to make it. Everyone has told me that this is a challenging dessert and it might not work. Well, guess what, I proved them all wrong on my first try. Although the caramel was the biggest challenge and I made about three attempts until I roped in my husband for help, the pudim, as it is commonly called in Brazil, turned out magnificent and everyone enjoyed it!

Since my first try I have made three others, all with varying degrees of success. The first one still stands out as the best though! The biggest challenge has been the caramel, and it is still the part that I most dread. But, slowly with practice I am getting the hang of it, even though I still burn one out of every three batches.

I think that the secret to making the caramel is to make it in an aluminum pot, preferably the tin that you will be baking the pudim in. Now, whether I am right with this I have no clue, this just seems to have worked best for me. And, as for the water, I have tried caramels with water, without water, with a little bit of water, and with a lot of water. The one that has worked best for me is the Brazilian version of no water! I’ll give you two recipes and you can tell me which one you think is best. Any caramel experts? Your advice is very much welcomed.