Meritíssimo · Our dishes · Pudim
Condensed milk custard under dark caramel, chilled overnight and turned out on the plate. The dessert that ends Sunday lunch in Brazil.
A cylinder of custard under a dark caramel, turned out of its mould so the caramel runs down the sides. In Brazil it is not called flan and it is not made with fresh milk: it is pudim de leite condensado, and it is the dessert that ends Sunday lunch in millions of houses.
Baked custards with caramel are old European cooking — Portugal brought them over, and Portuguese convent sweets are built on egg yolk and sugar in exactly this way. What changed the dessert here was a can.
Condensed milk arrived in Brazil as a shelf-stable product in a country that is enormous and, for most of its history, had no reliable cold chain. It did not need refrigeration, it did not spoil on a long road, and it was sweet and thick at the same time. Brazilian home baking rebuilt itself around that can — pudim, brigadeiro, bolo de pote, mousse. Swap fresh milk for condensed milk and the Portuguese pudding becomes denser, creamier, and unmistakably Brazilian.
Brazilians divide into two camps over this one. A pudim with tiny holes through it — furadinho — is what most people grew up eating, and it happens because the mixture is beaten in a blender and the air stays in it. A pudim with no holes at all, smooth as silk, means the mixture was rested or strained before baking, and the oven was gentle, in a water bath.
Neither is wrong. One tastes like a bakery, the other tastes like a grandmother with time. Ask any Brazilian which they prefer and you will get a real answer, with reasons.
The caramel has to be taken off the heat the moment it is amber. One second longer and it turns bitter, and no amount of custard on top hides it.
It needs hours in the fridge — properly cold, not just cool. Turn it out warm and it collapses on the plate. This is why pudim is always made the day before.
A slice of pudim is $4.49, and it is one of the two most viewed photos on our Google page — the other is a brigadeiro. For a party or a Sunday table you can order a whole pudim ($18.99), made to be turned out in front of everyone.
Order a whole one ahead. Call us or send an email and tell us the day you need it.
Order pickup See the menu (978) 855-6347At Meritíssimo, 377 John Fitch Hwy in Fitchburg. Our dessert menu includes Brazilian caramel pudim. Check the current menu or call ahead for availability.
A baked custard with caramel, made with condensed milk instead of fresh milk — denser and creamier than a French flan. It is chilled overnight and turned out of the mould.
Because the mixture was beaten in a blender and kept the air. Resting or straining it before baking, in a gentle water bath, gives a smooth pudim with no holes. Brazilians argue about which is better.
Yes — a whole pudim is $18.99. Order ahead so it has time to chill properly, which is what makes it hold its shape.
Same family, different build. Flan is made with fresh milk and is lighter; Brazilian pudim uses condensed milk, which makes it denser and sweeter.
Since October 11, 1994
Argemiro left the truck behind to be near his children. Salomé cooked the first plate — two reais and fifty cents. Since 1994, the same family serves the same food, now in Fitchburg too.
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