Baked Milk (Leche Asada) is a traditional dessert in Chile. It is not considered something special. It was a dessert of the weekdays in my childhood. It is quick to make and delicious.
Leche Asada is more flavorful when made with whole milk, but you can use 2% milk. If you make individual portions, they can be unmoulded, but the traditional dessert is baked on a glass baking dish and served directly from it. I’ve ruined several trying to unmold them; do not do it.
Leche asada is a popular dessert in Chile and other Latin American countries. The name translates to “roasted milk” in English. It’s a sweet, custard-like dessert made from simple ingredients like milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. It belongs to the famous milk-based dessert family.
Step to prepare Leche Asada:
- Prepare the Caramel Sauce: Be careful not to burn it. The final color you want to achieve is a light tea.
- Preheat the Oven
- Make the Mixture by hand or in the blender.
- Bake
- Cool and Serve Once cooled, refrigerate for several hours or overnight to allow the flavors to meld and the dessert to firm up.
It’s often enjoyed or garnished with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or a drizzle of additional caramel sauce.
I copied down the variant with apples. It’s my favorite. Follow the instructions carefully for the hard caramel. You can use condensed milk or sugar and replace the milk with evaporated milk. There are many variations for Leche Asada. I recommend the Dulce de Leche and Lucuma.
Chilean Leche Asada
A traditional Chilean dessert.
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 8
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk or 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups of milk (whole or 2%)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
for caramel:
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1/4 cup of water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C.
- Make the caramel: Combine the sugar and water in a small pot, put it over medium heat, and boil. Moisten the pot walls so they do not become sugary afterward. Let it boil, reduce the heat, and keep boiling until medium pale caramel forms (tea-colored). Please do not neglect the pot because it burns very fast. Do not stir.
- Cover the baking dish (8″ x 8″) with the hot caramel. Turn the mold carefully so that the caramel covers the walls. The mold is going to get hot; be careful. The caramel will solidify. It is normal.
- Mix the condensed milk or sugar, milk, vanilla, and eggs in a blender or a big bowl. Pour over the caramelized baking dish.
- Bake until firm and brown, 50-60 minutes. I will rise in the oven and then collapse. It’s normal.
- Let cool and serve. Keep refrigerated.
Notes
Variation with apple: Peel and chop thin slices of an apple—place at the bottom of the mold. Pour the caramel over the apples. Continue with the recipe.
Nutritional Information calculated made with sugar.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Chilean
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 211
- Sugar: 40.6 g
- Sodium: 53.9 mg
- Fat: 3.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 40.6 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 4.3 g
I made it at my house but it didn’t turn out well, my other family members tried it too and it worked fine for them. I was trying to research this but I wasn’t able to make it right. One question, is it sweet?
Yes, it’s a dessert, and the texture is not like flan, it’s not smooth and silky. Normally it’s made on a baking dish and scoop from the same dish. It’s a rustic dessert.
After putting the roasted milk into the oven, I noticed I never added the vanilla extract. I went to reread the instructions and noticed you did not add when we should mix it in. When should it be mixed in?
Thanks for catching that, and I’m sorry. I corrected the recipe. You add the vanilla to the blender with all the other ingredients.
Have you ever tried it with soy milk or almond. Milk???
No.
This looks delicious. Your directions specify an 8×8 dish—-which implies square—-but the photos show a round cake pan. Which do you recommend? Thanks.
The 8×8 dish is easier, but if you have the experience you can do it in anything really. Just be careful that the metal gets really hot when you pour the caramel, it’s more dangerous.
Amo sus recetas me ayudan mucho ♥️
Me alegro tanto!!!