Enjoy!!!
By Anna Avalanche, Gisa Miles and Luiz Speedwell
Photography by Luiz Speedwell
Quindins by Gisa Miles
Who likes a sweet dessert? Everyone does! Brazilian as everyone likes it too! But looking by a dessert genuinely national, we realize that most favorite sweet is the Brazilian foreign origin, because of the many culinary contributions that we received in our colonization. But exist a dessert typical from Brazilian Northeast Region made chiefly from sugar, egg yolks, and ground coconut that everybody loves, even the foreigner when visit Brazil.
Iaiá – translated as YaYa, by the way, is a diminutive of sinhá (madam), which is an alteration for Lady. This small sweet pie was even a famous song title. "Os Quindins de Iaiá," sang by > Carmem Miranda , the Brazilian bombshell. Who knows Brazilian music will recognize this title from the famous Ary Barroso song (Brazilian composer, pianist, Academy Award-nominated and the Brazil's most successful songwriter in the first half of the 20th century).
Quindim, a popular coconut treat is often served small and individual, although it can also be made into one large ring custard. Quindim is baked in a water bath, and the coconut rises to the top while it's baking. The cakes are then flipped out of the molds to reveal their sparkly golden cap of custard. The coconut becomes the sweet chewy crust.
Ingredients:
• 8 tablespoons butter, plus 2 tablespoons melted butter for greasing the pans
• 1 1/3 cup sugar, plus more for dusting the pans
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 14 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg
• 1 teaspoon coconut flavoring
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 2/3 cups fresh or frozen finely grated coconut, unsweetened
Preparation:
1. With a pastry brush, paint melted butter inside all of the molds of 2 mini-muffin pans.
2. Sprinkle sugar liberally over all of the molds, then turn the pans over and tap out the excess.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and heat a pot of water on the stove.
4. Cream the butter with the sugar and the salt until fluffy.
5. Make sure the egg yolks and egg are at room temperature (you can warm them very briefly in the microwave if necessary). Add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each. The batter should be smooth. Stir in the coconut flavoring and the vanilla.
6. Fold in the fresh coconut. (If coconut is not finely grated, process it in a food processor or blender first).
7. Place each cupcake pan inside of a large pan with sides, like a roasting pan. Fill each mini cupcake mold almost full with batter.
8. Pour the hot water into the larger pan to a depth of about 3/4 of an inch, so that the muffin pan is sitting in a water bath, being careful not to let water splash into the batter. It sometimes helps to put the pans in the oven first, and then pour the water into the bottom pan, so that the water doesn't slosh around as you are moving the pans to the oven.
9. Bake custards for about 15 minutes, or until they are firm to the touch and light golden brown.
10. Let cool for 15 minutes on a rack. To remove custards, run a knife around the edge to loosen them from the pan and then gently flip them or lift them out. If they will not come out easily, chill them first.
11. Serve chilled.
Note: This recipe can be made in one standard muffin tin, to make 12 standard muffin size flans. It can also be made in a medium size (6 to 7 cup) ring mold.
Oh Gosh! It was delicious!
Special thanks to Gisa Miles for making us delicious Quindins.
This article has been sponsored by AA Trade Company, Cleary (128,128,0) http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cleary/128/128/0
For more pictures and information see:
English blog: http://annaavalanche.blogspot.com/
Portuguese blog: http://dejavu-intl-portuguese.blogspot.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/annaavalanche/
