Quesillo Venezolano

Ingredients

• 200 g caster sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tin (397 g) sweetened condensed milk
• 500 ml whole milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp dark rum
• Pinch of fine salt

Before you cook

• Take the eggs out of the fridge thirty minutes ahead so they are at room temperature.
• Choose a 20 centimetre round metal tin or ring mould with a tight lid, or have foil ready to seal it.
• Find a deep roasting tin the mould sits in comfortably and boil a kettle of water.
• Heat the oven to 175C.

Steps

1. Put the caster sugar and the water straight into the metal mould and set it over medium heat on the hob.
2. Let the sugar melt without stirring, swirling the mould occasionally, for about six minutes until it turns deep amber.
3. Take the mould off the heat and tilt it carefully so the caramel coats the base and comes an inch up the sides.
4. Set the mould aside and leave the caramel to harden.
5. Crack the eggs into a blender and blitz them for twenty seconds.
6. Add the condensed milk, the whole milk, the vanilla, the rum and the salt.
7. Blend for a further thirty seconds, which is exactly what gives quesillo its fine holes.
8. Pour the mixture through a sieve into the caramelised mould.
9. Cover the mould tightly with its lid or a double layer of foil.
10. Stand the mould in the roasting tin and pour boiling water into the tin until it reaches halfway up the sides.
11. Bake for fifty-five to sixty-five minutes, until the centre wobbles as one piece when you nudge it.
12. Lift the mould out of the water bath and let it cool on a rack for one hour.
13. Chill the quesillo, still covered, for at least six hours and preferably overnight.
14. Run a thin knife around the edge, set a rimmed serving plate on top and invert it in one confident movement.
15. Spoon any caramel left in the mould over the top and serve cold.