Quindim is an intensely yellow custard that combines egg yolks, sugar, butter, shredded coconut and coconut milk. It is Salvador de Bahia's most popular dessert, and this month's recipe for the featured country, Brazil, of our #ATW12P.
We are deeply enjoying touring the world virtually with our fellow bloggers of Around the World in 12 plates! Last month we were in Asia, in China, and many were the wonderful dishes we enjoyed. This month we're heading to South America, to the warm and colorful Brazil, and I can already smell the scents of cooking, hear the music playing, and see people dancing in the streets.
When I think of Brazil, I think of Salvador de Bahia, or simply Bahia, as everybody calls it, and its magic. A flurry of colors, sounds, bustle, richness, and poverty. Kids running and playing in the streets, capoeira dancers, and Carnival floats. I close my eyes, and my image of Bahia is forged by the stories of a beloved Brazilian writer whose books I devoured and that now grace a whole section of my Roman bookshelf: Jorge Amado. No surprise that in Portuguese, Amado means beloved.
"In Bahia, popular culture enters through the eyes, the ears, the mouth (so rich, colorful and tasty the culinary arts) and penetrates all the senses"
Amado wrote in "Bay of All Saints", a guidebook of Bahia, that is unfortunately out of print.
But what has Jorge Amado to do with a Brazilian dish we have to recreate for this month's ATW12P challenge? Well, Amado’s humble heroines, Tereza, dona Flor, Gabriela, whose stories and adventures I followed, are frequently of the belief that the indisputable way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and more often than not they are proven right. From tasty appetizers to the thick, rich fish and coconut milk moqueca de camarao flavored with bright red dende (palm fruit oil) to the milder but equally complex seafood stews called ensopados, to the delirium of sugary concoctions like custard tarts, meringue puffs, and little balls of toasted coconut and sugar, they won their men's hearts.
When given the chance to recreate one of the many dishes I read about in Amado's books, I chose a dessert. Again, no surprise here, since I am the "sweet" side of the blog.
So, I am giving you Quindim, a Brazilian Dessert!
"Quindim" is a word of African origin. When it arrived in Brazil as a Portuguese sweet, its original recipe consisted mainly of eggs, sugar, and almonds. The almonds were not easy to find in Brazil, so the recipe was probably modified by the slaves in the Bahia region in the seventeenth century, thanks to the abundance of coconut in the region at the time. Bahian cuisine is a blending of African and Portuguese flavors and the Quindim is a sweet treat to be enjoyed after a meal as a dessert or in the afternoon as a rich snack.
It does not take long to prepare, and it is actually fairly easy. Since there are just a few ingredients, their quality is important. Moreover, sifting the egg yolks and baking the quindim in a water bath are two crucial steps in the recipe. When the quindim come out of the oven, let them cool on a rack before trying to invert them onto a plate. You can use a pointed knife around the edges of the ramekins to help to remove them. Once inverted on a plate, they look like a creamy coconut set custard, similar to a flan, with a slightly gelatinous top and a crunchy bottom.
The fresh and exotic taste of the Quindim, with its glossy, creamy surface and rich, sugary and coconutty center, will captivate you at first taste. It can also be prepared in one large mold, in a ring shape, and in that case, it is called "Quindao" and is served in slices.
The flavor of this Quindim is similar to a caramel. Loreto said it tasted like a creme caramel pannacotta. I love the way it lures you in first visually. The coconut with its texture adding a nice dichotomy of flavor and experience to your tongue with its toasted edges and the topping so smooth and translucent offering some mystic curiosity to this dessert. I have to be honest, it is quite sweet and being one that loves the more subtly sweet, was pleased with the outcome but not ecstatic. But that being said, they are all gone which means it was liked. For those of you with an extremely sweet tooth, this Quindim is for you!
Enjoy!
PrintQuindim, a Brazilian Dessert
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 5 quindim in individual ramekins 1x
Ingredients
- 8 egg yolks, sieved
- ¾ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
For the bottom of the molds:
- soft, unsalted butter
- sugar
Instructions
- Place the shredded coconut in a large bowl and pour the coconut milk on top. Mix well and let stand for 15 minutes.
- In another bowl, add the sugar and the sifted egg yolks. Beat with a whisk or handheld mixer until foamy and light in color.
- Add the melted butter, the lemon juice and finally the coconut mixture. Mix well.
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Generously butter individual ramekins and cover the bottom and edges with sugar. Add a little more sugar at the bottom.
- Pour the mixture into the ramekins and let stand 10 minutes at room temperature.
- Place ramekins in a bigger baking dish and pour hot water at the bottom.
- Cook in a water bath for about 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Poke the quindim in the middle with the tip of a knife after 30 minutes. If it's still 'liquid', it's not ready. If it's soft then it's ready. It does not need to be hard.
- Allow to cool before inverting the quindim onto little plates.
Notes
Quindim can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days. Better served at room temperature.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
Thanks to Gabby Peyton The Food Girl in Town, for creating and including us in "Around the World in 12 Plates", such an exciting adventure!
Make sure you check the rest of the amazing fellow bloggers that met the challenge for “Around the World in 12 Plates, Brazil”:
I love baking and kneading dough because it takes me to a happy place in my soul.
mezora4 says
These sound delicious, Nicoletta! Like you, I like my desserts on the less-sweet side, so I'm definitely going to try these, but I think I'll use coconut sugar (they'll be more brown in colour) and cut it down to a half cup. Hopefully they'll still turn out. I love that they are naturally gluten free. Thanks for sharing the recipe and the little armchair trip to Brazil!
You're welcome, Mezora, and thank you for your comment. I would love to see how they turn out with your adjustment. I am not one for sweets that are too sweet, either 🙂 .I used natural cane sugar, and I was thinking of coconut sugar which I always have in my pantry, but did not know how it would affect the outcome (other than the color). Let me know! Have a great day!
Milena @ Craft Beering says
So much of Brazil's food has it's origins in Africa... I was really intrigued by your post! Thank you for sharing all the factual and sensual information too. Don't think that my Quindim will turn out as pretty, I am not particularly gifted in the desert department, but I think that even if they look messy, they will still taste outstanding. Cannot go wrong with coconut and eggs in my world:)
I am pretty sure they would turn out great, although even a bit messy, they're still good. Thank you so much for your nice comment.
Balvinder says
I have never heard of this dessert before and it looks so bright and shiny and delicious!
That was my first time making it and it turned our pretty good. My only note is it is too sweet for my taste. Other than that, everybody loved it. 😉 Thank you, Balvinder!
Dawn @ Girl Heart Food says
Coconut is one of my absolute favourite ingredients (and I do love coconut scented products, like lotions) too. This definitely does remind me somewhat of a flan and it just looks so beautiful! I've never heard of this dessert before, but would definitely love to try. Bet it would be perfect with coffee 🙂 Pinned! Hope your week is going lovely, my friend!
Thank you Dawn! Well, if coconut is your flavor and scent, than this dessert is for you! We had it with coffee at the end of our meal. Being too sweet for me, I washed it down with dark and unsweetened coffee. But the texture and flavor is lovely!
kravingsfoodadventures says
The texture on this dessert with the glossy top is stunning!
Thank you Karen! The texture of this dessert is really something! Smooth and creamy the topping, crunchy and sweet the bottom.
Shareba says
These are beautiful with the layers! They sound like something that I would enjoy - I'm a coconut fiend lol. It's interesting to know how the recipe evolved from being made with almonds to being made with coconut!
Thank you Shareba! They're quite good, a bit on the sweeter side. I like researching the culture where certain foods are from 🙂 .
Gabby Peyton says
I'm so happy you guys did a recipe for the challenge! It looks amazing!
We're happy, too! Its' so exciting to learn about the different foods of the featured country and cook it!
Charlotte says
When I first saw this I thought 'looks like a creme caramel' so I'm glad I was kind of right. Although 'creme caramel pannacotta' tasting sounds amazing. I may need to join you on this food journey and give these a try!
Ah ah, that's how my husband said they tasted like 🙂 . We have so much fun each month cooking or baking food from the featured Country! Come join us!
dishnthekitchen says
You have such a way with words Nicoletta! You have taken me to Brazil and back, and I've never been there. Isn't it amazing, how through words we are transported to another place and time?
Oh, thank you Bernice! That is such a wonderful compliment! I love when a book is able to transport me to another place and time, I am glad I was able to somehow recreate that 🙂 .
Korena in the Kitchen says
Oh my goodness, these sound AMAZING! I'm loving discovering all these new foods through this challenge 🙂
Thanks, Korena!