Leche Asada, Milk Custard from Latin America

Leche asada, which translates as “toasted or roasted milk” is probably one of the easiest custards there is. Melt sugar, mix together remaining ingredients, pour into ramekins, and bake. I have made this dessert in under ten minutes. If you happen to have sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla at home, you can make this Latin American custard in a jiffy. As is often the case, this leche asada is originally from Spain and was brought to Latin America during colonization. Famous among the Canary Islands, leche asada is enjoyed all throughout Latin America. Peru and Chile in particular fight over who has the best leche asada, but I will keep out of this discussion, because if you ask me, neither as it stems from Spain. Regardless of who makes the best, let’s look at what leche asada actually is

You may think this is the same as a flan, but that’s not true. Whereas flan has a creamier consistency and is steamed in a waterbath for the eggs to really set very slowly, leche asada does not need anything fancy. The oven temperature is higher, a waterbath unnecessary and thus you will get a dessert with different layers. The top being the caramel, obviously. Because rest assure, you don’t want to skip the caramel layer, which harmonized nicely with the custard. Below you get a still lightly creamy layer and the bottom is much denser. Overall the consistency is denser in texture, a bit more cake-like and a joy to eat.

There is very little that can go wrong here, maybe you need to give this dessert a try. If you are into vanilla and you like custards, this recipe is for you, why not try?

Print Recipe

Leche Asada from Latin America

Prep Time: 10min – Cooking Time: 40min – Total Time: 50min

Leche Asada is a custard from Latin America with very few ingredients.

Ingredients

• 100 grams of regular sugar for the caramel
• 150 grams of heavy cream or milk
• 150 grams of milk, preferably high fat content
• 4 eggs
• 50 grams of regular sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, scraped, or vanilla extract

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and look for 4 ovenproof ramekins with about 120ml/g volume each.

2

Melt 100 grams of regular sugar in a large frying pan on medium heat. Swirl the pan in between and wait until the caramel has the color of amber. Then divide between the four ramekins. You need to be fast as the caramel will harden quickly.

3

Combine all remaining ingredients in a large bowl and whisk without incorporating too much air into it. Pour into prepared ramekins and bake for about 40min. Leave in the turned-off oven for about another half hour, then bring to room temperature before finally transferring to the fridge overnight. You don't need to wait that long, an hour will also do, however, it makes it much easier to release from the ramekin and will also make them less wobbly.

4

Run a knife around the edges of the ramekins and invert onto a small plate each.