Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Semolina pudding with caramel (Sémola con leche)

This is a very popular dessert in Chile, only second to Leche Asada or flan. Semolina is easy to come by and cheap. We, chileans, have a never satisfied sweet tooth and in many families fruit is just a snack never a proper dessert, that and the abundance of grass and cows, I suppose are the reason we have so many milk based desserts. This is one of my favorites.

Semolina pudding and caramel 
6-8 people
Ingredients: 

for caramel,

     1 cup sugar
     1/4 cup water


for the semolina pudding,

     5 cups of milk, whole or 2%
     1 teaspoon vanilla extract
     1/2 cup granulated sugar or to taste
     1 cup semolina

Preparation:
     Choose a round baking pan 8' or 9'.
     Make the caramel, in a small saucepan place the sugar and water enough to moisten all the sugar, cook over high heat until it begins to change color and turn brown, reduce heat and stare at the pot, when it reach a tea-colored remove and dump into the baking pan, turning a little in a way that it covers the whole bottom. No worry if it solidifies.
     In a medium saucepan, place milk, sugar and vanilla, cook over medium-high heat, stirring with a round whisk until the sugar dissolves. When it boil, lower the heat to low and begin adding the semolina in a steady rain, whisk all the time, is going to thicken quickly, let it boil again, cook for 1 minute stirring all the times.
     Pour over the caramel and let cool in the pan, refrigerate a few hours before unmolding and serving.