Wait for the end of the family lunch, that lazy moment of the candy with coffee, and throw the question in the air: “Milk pudding with or without a little hole?”. Controversy is guaranteed until dinner time.
Also polarized in the universe of desserts, Brazil is divided into two passionate teams, which do not skimp on arguments to justify their preferences.
Partner at the Fôrma de Pudim bakery, Daniela Aliperti is from the team without holes. “The pudding gets punctured when you beat the dough a lot, forming bubbles, and bake it at high temperature, which makes the egg proteins clot too quickly. It turns into an omelet”, scorns the baker.
Author of “O Livro do Pudim” (Panda Books, 88 pages, R$ 29.90), Aliperti confesses that she posted both recipes, with and without, at the request of the editor. But her preference is declared by the creamy and smooth texture, which she developed adapting the preparation of the French crème brûlé —in the bakery, the individual pudding (85 g) costs R$ 14. “The store is already ten years old and, if two people They went in there asking for pudding with holes, it was a lot.”
This is the opposite of what Leonardo Olim says, a TV producer specializing in cooking shows who became a pastry chef in February 2022, with the launch of the Pudim do Olim delivery. Before professionalizing his recipe, already famous among friends, he based himself on a poll on social networks.
“A friend, who has many followers, asked the question and found that 80% prefer pudding with holes”, reveals Olim, who charges R$ 14 for the individual candy (140 g). “I’ve stopped selling a few times because the customer just likes it without. But, on the other hand, there are people who complain and ask for more holes.”
This is not the only controversy surrounding milk pudding. There is also the team — quite numerous — that considers condensed milk a fundamental ingredient, in opposition to the staunch opponents of the industrialized product.
Chef at Maria Farinha Cozinha restaurant, in Pinheiros, Lisandra Amaral learned from her family, who live in Cachoeira Paulista, in the ParaÃba Valley, the traditional recipe that uses only whole milk, eggs and sugar. The slice costs R$ 17.
“It’s a little sweet, with a smooth texture, very light. But it only works using milk with a higher fat content and real free-range eggs. Even the free-range eggs sold at the supermarket have very watery whites, the pudding doesn’t do well.”
Condensed milk came late in the pudding recipe. Although invented in 1856, it was only in the 1960s that Nestlé invested in recreating traditional Brazilian recipes, exchanging sugar for the product. The strategy worked so well that Brazil became the largest consumer market, according to research firm Euromonitor.
Before him, milk pudding sweetened with sugar prevailed, whose origin is also a topic of discussion. It can be Portuguese heritage, adapted from ivory pudding, but also a version of Spanish flan or French crème caramel.
For sociologist Carlos Alberto Dória, it is a relative of the French crème renversée, a recipe that appears in the book “Le Guide Culinaire”, which Auguste Escoffier published in 1903 — although he was not the father of the invention. “Escoffier reproduced a recipe from the popular French tradition,” he explains.
In Brazil, pudding has been made for a long time. More than a dozen recipes appear in the book “O Cookeiro Nacional”, originally published in the 19th century (Senac-SP, 496 pages, R$ 218). The one for milk pudding lists eggs, flour, sugar, cinnamon, lemon rinds and nutmeg as ingredients.
Detractors of condensed milk often claim that the ingredient entered the recipe to simplify the preparation. But the fact is that, with or without the milk in the can (or the box), preparing a good milk pudding always requires a certain skill from the confectioner.
To ensure the smooth texture that the customers of Forma de Pudim appreciate, Aliperti incorporates the ingredients delicately, using only a wire whisk, so that bubbles do not form.
Condensed milk must be whole and eggs, preferably free-range. For the texture to be even creamier, just replace half the milk with whey-free cream. When baking in a bain-marie, it’s worth the combination of very low temperature and patience.
The version without condensed milk from the Maria Farinha restaurant also takes time. Lisandra Amaral beats four whole eggs and twice as many yolks with just half a cup of sugar. Incorporated into the milk, the mixture goes into the caramel mold and bakes in a bain-marie for three hours in a very low oven.
Olim, on the other hand, causes the holes to speed up the whole process. Beat in the blender, to be well aerated, the dough goes in the oven for just over an hour.
Gourmetizations are welcome. In the Fôrma de Pudim, the vanilla essence can give way to the aromatic vanilla bean, a 100% natural ingredient with a much higher price, whose presence is signaled by the tiny black dots mixed with the pudding.
At Maria Farinha Cozinha, milk only enters the preparation after being infused with curamu seeds, the same ingredient that perfumes the Holy Burger pudding, which made its dessert even more famous on social media by changing the traditional way, with a hole in the middle. , by the condensed milk can itself —the pudding (R$ 25) arrives at the table in the can, to be unmoulded in front of the customer.
Among so many versions and inventions, only one point in common seems to bring all the teams together in a single chorus: milk pudding that is worth its salt has to be served with a lot of caramel sauce. And end of story.
Where to find
Pudding mold. R. Normandia, 102, Moema, www.formadepudim.com.br.
Holy Burger. R. Dr. Cesário Mota Junior, 527, Vila Buarque, www.holyburger.com.br.
Maria Farinha Kitchen. R. João Elias Saada, 126, Pinheiros, tel. (11) 93279-0060, www.instagram/mariafarinhasp.
Olym pudding. www.instagram/pudimdolim.
Revenue
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Milk pudding without holes
Basis
INGREDIENTS
1 can of condensed milk.
450 ml of whole milk.
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence.
2 eggs.
4 gems.
PREPARATION
Manually mix the condensed milk with the milk and vanilla. In another bowl, beat the eggs and yolks with a whisk and add to the previous mixture. Strain and reserve.
Caramel syrup
INGREDIENTS
150 g of sugar.
PREPARATION
Put the sugar in a pan and add enough water to make it wet. Stir, turn on the heat and cook without stirring, until it turns into caramel. Pour the syrup into the mold and add the pudding base. Cover with aluminum foil and cook in a bain-marie, at 150º C, from 1h to 1h30, or until the center is firm.
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Milk pudding with holes
Basis
INGREDIENTS
1 can of condensed milk.
450 ml of whole milk.
4 eggs.
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence.
PREPARATION
Blend the ingredients in a blender and set aside.
Caramel syrup
INGREDIENTS
150 g of sugar.
PREPARATION
​Repeat the procedure of the previous recipe and cook in a water bath, in the high oven, from 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the center is set.
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
