Portuguese Caramel Custard • Creme de Caramelo

I consider this sweet a hidden gem from Portugal, mostly because it’s a wonderful and delicious recipe that is on par or even surpasses the fantastic Portuguese custard, but both in Portugal and abroad is barely mentioned, while in my opinion it should be on all the best cookbooks it’s pretty rare to see it anywhere.

However, if it’s up to me… it’s always going to be there on the top and if I even write a cookbook it’s going in, no questions asked, the sweet itself is a type of custard, being the thickening agents the egg and flour, but before cooking the eggs with the milk you make a strong caramel, so the end result is a not too sweet nutty, caramel flavored custard, it’s brilliant! Let’s check the recipe!

Portuguese Caramel Custard • Creme de Caramelo

Servings: 12
Time: 45mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Classic portuguese desert from Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, its a blend between a custard and a condensed milk caramel sweet.

Ingredients

Brown Sugar – 70gr
Flour – 32gr
Egg – 3
Milk – 1 lt (Whole Milk)
Brown Sugar – 120gr (For Caramel)
Water – 25ml (For Caramel)
Walnuts – To taste

Directions

Start by heating the milk in a saucepan, set aside when very warm but not boiling.

In a small saucepan add 120gr of brown sugar and 25ml of water, let it boil until the sugar caramelizes well, you want it really deep caramel almost burned is the best (check the photo for a good reference of the point you want to reach), this is important for the final flavor and texture.
Pour the caramel into the milk and stir well, pour some of the milk back into the caramel pan just to dissolve the rest of the caramel, pour it all back into the pan with the milk.

On a bowl, mix 70g of brown sugar with 32g of flour and 3 eggs, whisk well, then add a little of the milk with caramel, mix, pour a little more to heat the mixture of sugar and eggs but avoiding the eggs from curdling.

Pour everything back to it into a pan with the milk and caramel, stirring constantly. Bring it to a low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture starts to thicken, it will take a while, but when it thickens you’ll notice it immediately, let it cook a little longer just to thicken it well and then remove from the heat.

Pour into a large serving bowl or into small bowls with pieces of crushed walnuts on top, take it to the fridge for a couple of hours before serving, bon appétit.

Notes: You can sprinkle with walnuts, caju nuts, peanuts, almonds, or sprinkle with sugar and torch it to create a crackling caramel.

This recipe for Portuguese Caramel Custard • Creme de Caramelo was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Creme de Caramelo foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.