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!

Pavê-ing Around.

I wonder how many of you get the same kick out of my titles as I do. Unless you speak Portuguese, or any of the languages that share the use of this word, you probably just have absolutely no idea what that is relating to.. AT ALL. Which is why I found it comical to make a play on the word in the first place. My inside joke I guess. ANYWAY. Let's learn about Pavê.
     Pavê is pronouced (pah-vay) and best translates into the word parfait. Parfait basically means "perfect" in French, and generally describes those yummy frozen layered desserts you know and love. In Brazil, though, Pavê is not frozen. I mean some people may freeze it depending on its variation, but for the most part it is only necessary to serve cold. Not only is it necessary, it is vital. Though most of the recipes I see here say to keep it in the fridge for at least 3 hours, I found that keeping it in overnight made for a "parfait" result. Get it?
     This dessert is a traditional dessert item in Brazil and each household has their own variation of it. People make Pavê with pretty much anything they can think of to add, but the main ingredients which remain crucial are eggs,milk, cream, and condensed milk. Without these items you cannot make a proper Pavê. Everything else you add is at your own discretion. I made this dessert for the first time the other day. I must say, it takes a little work, but is WORTH every bit of it in the end. This dessert is so delicious. You know the filling inside of a custard donut or eclair? Yeah it's got that stuff as a layer. Amazing. So, if you are looking to wow everyone with something different and delicious, try this recipe out. When you're done putting it together you can decorate it and make it super pretty. It might even go over well as a birthday cake alternative. It's good stuff. So let's get started.

What you will need:

* For this recipe you will need a sauce pan/pot for cooking the cream. You will also need either a wire whisk or a mixer. We have neither right now in my case, so I used my husband's handy hands to beat my whites. ;)

* The dish for this dessert can be really anything that's deep. Most people use a fluted bowl or deep pie/casserole dish. As long as it's about 2-3 inches deep you should be good. You also don't want something really huge either... because you won't have enough cream to spread around everything. Unless you double the ingredients... which in my opinion, you can't have too much of!

FOR CREAM: (Parenthesis contain Portuguese word for ingredient)

• 1 can condensed milk (leite condensado)
• 1 cup milk (leite)
• 4 egg yolks (gemas)
• 1 tsp corn starch (amido)
• 1 tsp vanilla (baunilla)

FOR COVERING:

• 4 egg whites (claros)
• 4 Tbsp sugar (acucar)
• 1 cup heavy cream (creme de leite sem soro- meaning the kind in the box not can- Brazil only)

FOR BASE:

• 1 package lady fingers (Biscoito Champagne)
• other type of cookie that does well when absorbed with liquids... such as kit kats (in Brazil, Bis)
• optional - if you like it fruity, use peaches, pineapple, strawberries, or other fruits that taste good when used in desserts heavy in dairy. I didn't use any this time, but I will next time.
• 1 cup milk (leite)
• 2 Tbsp chocolate powder (chocolate em po)

1. Separate your eggs first and foremost. Yellows in one bowl, whites in the other. Set the whites aside we'll get to those.

 2. Dump condensed milk, milk, yolks, and corn starch into sauce pan and stir together. Turn heat on low to medium and stir continually. 

3. Once the goop has thickened you can add your vanilla. Keep the heat on though and keep stirring. You will stir this stuff for about 10-15 minutes depending on the amount of heat you have it on. It need to be so thick that it doesn't fall off of the spoon as soon as you take it out.

4. When the consistency is more like the filling you see in a custard donut, you can turn the heat off. You don't want it to be too runny because it won't set when you cool it, and if you cook it too long it won't taste good when it cools. So just make sure it's like a very thick custard before you turn off the heat. Set it aside and allow it to cook and thicken while you do the rest of the steps.

5. Take your eggs whites and put them in a large mixing bowl. Begin to whip them with a wire whisk or mixer on medium speed until they start to foam up and turn white like the pic above. At this point, you can add your sugar.

6. Continue whipping/mixing your whites until they resemble fluffy clouds. They should be what is called "peaked" meaning you can literally see peaks rising off the tops of the whites like mountains. It should be very stiff.

7. Add your cream little by little, continually whipping/mixing it in with whatever method you are using. Be careful not to put your mixing speed too high as it will lose it's "puff". 

8. Mix well. Set aside.

9. Take your lady fingers and line them up in a shallow dish. Mix your milk and chocolate powder together and pour, little by little, over the cookies. 

10. Let them sit for just a couple minutes to absorb the liquid. You don't want them to sit too long though because you won't be able to pick them up to put them in the desired dish.

11. Add your other cookie or fruit choices on top of that. You can also add another layer of lady fingers.

12. Spoon all of the cream over the cookies. Make sure you cover it as much as possible. 

13. It should look something like this. At this point you can add another layer of cookies or whatever you think will taste good. Some people like to make several layers. I kept it simple for teaching purposes, though.  It tastes awesome with the basic layers anyway.

14. Now pour on your covering. (Egg white mix). Smooth it over and make sure everything is well covered. 

15. This is the fun part. Decorate it with whatever you want! The most popular toppings in Brazil are shaved chocolate, crushed cookies, and strawberries. You can also throw the leftover lady fingers on top. 

This is what it looks like from the side - note the layering.

16. Place finished product into the fridge for at LEAST 3-5 hours. However I feel that you will have the best experience with this if you let it sit overnight. I wasn't very impressed with what I tried after the 3 hours mark. The next morning, however, it was AMAZING! Everything had set perfectly and the cookies had gotten super soft and mixed in better with everything. It really is the most important part of this recipe in my opinion. If you try to eat it too early, it's going to be more like a pudding. If you leave it long enough, it will be more like a really soft cake!

* I have seen a lot of people here actually use those tube pans with the fall out bottoms to make decorative. tasty birthday cakes. I def. recommend trying that!

ENJOY!

New Yummy Discoveries!

THIS JUST IN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so today, I had ingredients in my fridge to make Brigadeiro. However, no sprinkles to roll them into fun bite-sized balls. Normally in this situation, you just go ahead and make the Brigadeiro and let everyone eat it with a spoon... or put it on fruit or what have you. I had already made a batch of Cheese Bread though so after the Brigadeiro cooled, I cut a piece of cheese bread in half and slathered brigadeiro onto both halves. Let me tell you. WOW. I already knew Doce de Leite was good on Pao de Queijo, but I had NO idea how yummy chocolate was. 

   This is a must try. If you would like to make both of these recipes... follow the links I have in this post to direct you to the right recipes. Make the cheese bread and brigadeiro, and eat them TOGETHER. You will discover a new taste you've never had before... and it will be your new favorite snack. WOW!

And amidst all of the enjoyment of my new found delicacy, I forgot to take a picture. :(

Caramel - Brazilian Style!

I could not rightfully keep a food blog about Brazilian food without including what seems to be the "glue" of most Brazilian desserts; Condensed milk. I have never seen a people consume as much of it as they do here. In almost every dessert you will find it as an ingredient, and if not, you can probably add it to the dish somehow. Condensed milk is the only ingredient needed to make what I am going to now discuss the making of; Doce de Leite. Doce de Leite ("doh-see" "dgee" "lay-chee") basically means Milk Dessert or Candy in English. Technically it means "sweet of milk," but that wouldn't really make sense to say. It tastes very much like caramel.
      That is how it actually originates though. To make condensed milk, you heat powdered milk and sugar on a stove until it begins to turn into a yellow-ish goop.
To make doce de leite from scratch, all you need is milk and sugar. You must be prepared to stand there stirring for a loooong time though. The end product is a very milk creamy almost pudding like dessert.
This type of doce de leite is also not exactly the same as the kind made the way I am about to show you, which is more of a caramel/candy type texture. I prefer this way the most. And here is the incredibly simple recipe for that:

What you will need:

• 1-3 cans of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 very large soup pot (depending on how many cans you plan to put inside of it)
• water
• utensil to retrieve can from hot water
• can opener
• self control (it is REALLY delicious)

Ready for the easiest recipe ever?

1. Place your UNOPENED can(s) of condensed milk into the pot and fill with enough water to completely submerge the cans. THEY MUST STAY COVERED WITH WATER! If you allow them to boil dry they can explode. Not good.
2. Turn fire on medium to high flame.
3. Once the water starts boiling, leave it for 2 1/2 hours. If you have a pressure cooker and can use that, it only has to cook for 40 minutes.
4. Once time is up, remove the can(s) and allow them to completely cool off before attempting to open it. If you try to open it while it's hot, the contents may burst out into your eyes and cause blindness. Or something bad like that. So just please let it cool off first.
5. Eat it out of the can or transfer into a bowl and store in the fridge. You can add pretty much anything to it, or add IT to pretty much anything.
6. Enjoy and share with others.

ALTERNATE RECIPE:

For those who would prefer to try the completely homemade version, here is how you do it:

1. Place 8 1/2 cups of milk into a large pot with 4 cups of sugar.
2. Stir the ingredients first without heat until the sugar is totally dissolved (to avoid clumping at the bottom of the pan when sugar begins to crystallize).
3. Medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. You are seriously going to be stirring for about 15 minutes before you start to see the mixture thickening and turning a golden color.
Here is what it should resemble when ready:

4. Remove from heat and allow to slightly cool before transferring into a container of your choice. Store in the fridge.
Note - In Brazil people often mix doce de leite with strawberries, prunes, coconut, and chocolate. I have also had it with candied figs.

There is really no end to what you can put in this stuff... and put it on. It makes any dessert more delicious. It is also wonderful on toast in inside of breads and donuts! Have fun and experiment, or just eat it right out of the can/container like I do!

Bolinho de Chuva. Rain never tasted so good!

              If you live in Brazil, I bet you really miss donuts. If you live elsewhere, I bet you would love to have a recipe which resembles donuts and requires half the work involved in making donuts from scratch. So here for your tasting pleasure, I introduce Bolinho de Chuva. (Bow-lean-yo) (dgee) (Shoe-vuh).
              This roughly translates into "little rain cakes," and there are 2 main reasons behind it's name. The first reason is because when the batter is dropped into hot oil, it quickly forms what resembles a rain drop. For beginners such as myself, the rain drops even end up with tasty little crunchy tails. I think I love these things just for their delicious tails. I love crunchy stuff.
               The second popular story with these cakes is that often times when it is rainy and chilly outside here in Brazil, parents and grandparents whip up a batter of this stuff and serve it warm to their kids, warming up their bellies and keeping them happy as they are trapped indoors staying warm and dry. So these treats just started getting referred to as rain cake. Pretty cute.
               If you plan to try these out I will say 2 things: The ingredients are super simple and easy to have handy in the house, BUT, plan on throwing away the first few that you make because they will most likely either burn or will resemble more of a fat funnel cake than anything else. You have to make sure the oil does not get too hot, and you have to work on a technique that will allow you to get ball shaped cakes, not snake like. This recipe makes a big batch of about a dozen or so though, so it's ok to play around a little. I would best describe the taste as a mix between funnel cake and donuts rolled in sugar. I personally like these without the sugar and cinnamon coating, but everyone likes different things. These are also FABULOUS when made with a filling, which I have not yet done.

On to the little cakes:

You will need:

• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• Oil for frying, about an inch and a half maybe of oil, more or less
• extra sugar and cinnamon for rolling the cakes in
• medium pot or iron skillet for frying
• 2 medium sized bowls for mixing ingredients
• medium spoon
• paper towels or some kind of towel to dry cakes on
• A bunch of kids or hungry people to help you eat them

Directions:

1. Beat eggs with sugar, one egg at a time, constantly beating until thick and  dark yellow.

2. In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

3. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to sugar mixture. You'll end up alternating 2-4 times, just stir after each time you add something and add the next, stir, etc. etc.

4. Mix well.

5. Pour your frying oil into the pan and put over medium heat. You want it to get pretty hot, but if you put it on high heat, you will definitely end up with burnt cakes that are gooey in the middle. If you see the oil start to smoke... you've gone to far!

6. This is the part that takes practice. With your medium spoon, take what would be about a tablespoon full and gently place the mix into the oil. Don't move your spoon at all while doing this. Try and get the majority of mix from the spoon into the oil at the same time, and any drizzles that comes afterwards need to be firmly held into the ball in the oil to keep it from drifting away from it and creating a lizard tail. Most likely you will end up with tiny little tails coming off of each ball, which is totally normal.

7. Allow the cakes to fry for about a minute.. maybe less, before you flip them over to the other side to fry. Once they have reached a golden to light brown color, they're ready.

8. Take each one out and place on a paper towel (I use old pillow cases because I think paper towels are such a waste of money). Let them dry there and cool off a little.

9. Roll them in a cinnamon/sugar mix and enjoy. You might want to make just half with sugar/cinnamon to see which you prefer. Some people find the cinnamon/sugar version to be way too sweet. You decide.

10. Let them stay uncovered as long as possible. Once you cover them they will begin to get soft and lose their crunch.

11. Serve with coffee or hot chocolate. Especially on a cold or rainy day!

Note: People often coat things with the batter before dropping it into the hot oil. Pieces of banana coated in the batter and fried are phenominal! I have also seen people coat chunks of chocolate, jelly, and caramels.

When mixing the batter, things like raisins, nuts, etc. can be added before frying for different flavors and textures. The options are endless!


Boa Sorte! Good luck!