Queijadinha

As tradition built it

Queijadinha

Bake 180°C, 25 to 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• 100g desiccated coconut
• 100g parmesan or a mature Queijo Minas, grated
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 395g tin sweetened condensed milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp butter, melted

Method

1. Combine the desiccated coconut, grated parmesan or Queijo Minas, and sugar in a bowl.
2. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk, then the lightly beaten eggs and melted butter, mixing to a smooth, loose batter.
3. Divide between paper or foil cups set inside a deep baking tray, filling each roughly three quarters full, then pour boiling water into the tray to reach halfway up the sides of the cups.
4. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are golden and just firm to the touch while the centre still holds a faint, custardy wobble.

What a modern chef changes

The bain-marie mechanism respected, not shortcut.

Rung 2 principle, applied to custard

Method

1. Never bake this dry: the water bath is not optional decoration; it is the entire reason the custard sets gently rather than curdling at the edges before the centre catches up, exactly the same food science as a crème caramel.
2. Use a 60-day matured Queijo Minas rather than parmesan, following the example of the Serro cooperative CooperSerro's own reworked version, for a saltier, more complex savoury note against the coconut and condensed milk.
3. Unmould onto a spoonful of the pequi oil from Rung 6, off season substitutable with a little toasted coconut oil, a genuinely speculative pairing this book's own suggestion, offered because the resinous pequi note and the sweet coconut custard share enough common ground to be worth a home cook's own experiment.