Did Someone Say "Toasted Coconut Pudim"?

                              Toasted Coconut Pudim

Oh yeah, it's as good as it sounds. If you don't know what Pudim is, take a look at a previous post I made on Traditional Pudim. As I have explained before, Pudim (poo-gene) is kind of a mix between baked custard and Spanish Flan. Very much its own thing though. Adding toasted coconut is just taking it to the next level of deliciousness.
    I didn't find this recipe in any book or on the back of a condensed milk can, I came up with this bad boy all by myself. I notice a lot of people love adding shredded coconut to their pudim, so while grocery shopping one day the toasted coconut screamed at me. It said "Add ME to the pudim, I will make it awesome." That's exactly what I did. The result was amazing. It tastes like something you might eat at a fancy restaraunt. It's soooo creamy. I'm not even all that big on coconut in my food either, so for me to endorse this one, it must be good. Follow the recipe below to understand what I mean.

You Will Need:

• Pudim pan (bundt cake pan will do, too)
• Big spoon for stirring
• Foil
• Blender
• Pan big enough to create a water bath for the pudim while baking
• plate for turning finished pudim onto

Ingredients:

• 1 can of condensed milk (If in Brazil, get the kind in a box, which is sem soro, and this kind is optimal for pudim making)
• 1 can of (creme de leite) milk cream + 1/4 cup milk (or just 1 cup of whole milk)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of toasted coconut flakes (coco queimado) The kind I use is shown in the picture above inside of the pudim pan.
  (You can probably find this at any international food market in the states.)

Here is what you do:

1. Add the sugar to your pan and place it over the oven. It is easiest and less messy to just heat it up inside of the pan you're going to use. Just make sure each time you have to hold onto the pan after turning on the fire you use some protection over your hand... it gets hot! 

Also, preheat your oven to 190 C or 375 F. Place a larger pan 1/2 filled with water into the oven as well. This is mandatory. Your pudim will burn on the bottom if you do not have this to place the pan in while it bakes.

 2. Turn the heat on medium let it start to heat the sugar up. You don't need to start messing with it until you see a slight brown beginning to form inside of the sugar like shown.

 3. Once you begin stirring, stor constantly until all of the white is gone and the crystals have mostly dissolved. Just don't leave it for too long or it will start to burn. You want the white totally gone and MOST of the crystals dissolved... TURN OFF THE HEAT at this point.

 4. Add the water. About 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup should do. Do this with extreme caution as it may jump up at you. Stand back a little as you SLOWLY pour in the water. Stir thoroughly until it is soupy in texture.

 5. Now you add the toasted coconut flakes. Add more if you want a thicker topping on your pudim. Keep in mind though that the more you add, the more water you will need to add. The flakes will soak that water up as it bakes. Mix them into a soupy texture.

 6. Once you have stirred it well, turn the heat of the stove back on and let it cook for just a few more minutes, until it looks about like this. Make sure you bring some of the soup up onto the sides of the pan as you can see in the above picture. As soon as you can start to see it begin to bubble up, turn off the heat and let it sit while you prepare the second half.

 7. Get your blender out and add the condensed milk, cream, milk, and eggs. Blend for 5 minutes. The condensed milk needs time to blend into the milk.

 8. Slowly and carefully add the mixture to the pan. You don't WANT them to mix together quite yet, however if it does a little it's okay.

 9. Cover the pudim with foil and place into the bath inside of the oven.

Bake with foil on for one hour.

After one hour, remove the foil but keep it in the oven baking without foil for 40 more minutes. When a toothpick or whatever comes out clean, it's done. Some people like to take it out a few minutes before though. Depends on how you like it.... experiment to find out which you like the most.

 10. This is what it should look like when you take it out of the oven, more or less.

Cover with a plate or foil and place in the fridge for at LEAST 3 hours. I leave mine in overnight because it tastes the absolute best that way. Completely chilled is best.

After removing from the fridge, run a knife around the sides and middle to break it away from the pan. Place the dish you are going to keep it in over the top of the pan and flip over quickly. Tap the bottom of the pan a little until you feel it fall into the dish.

 11. Serve

12. ENJOY!