Baked Milk, if you are literal (Leche Asada), is a traditional milk custard 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 in a glass baking dish and served directly from it. I've ruined several trying to unmold them; do not do it. If you are set on serving individual portions, use a round biscuit cutter, for example, to cut and serve.
Leche asada is a popular dessert in Chile and other Latin American countries. 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 with Leche Nevada, Tres Leches, Flan, and Arroz con leche.

Chilean Leche Asada
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Yield: 8
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Chilean
Description
A traditional Chilean dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk or ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups of milk (whole or 2%)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
for the caramel:
- 1 cup of sugar
- ¼ cup of water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F or 180C.
- Make the caramel: Combine the sugar and water in a small pot over medium heat and boil. Swirl the pot a couple of times. Reduce the heat to a strong simmer and cook 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. Refrigerated.
- To serve, scoop each portion into a bowl.
Notes
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
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. Scoop each portion into a bowl and serve.
It's often enjoyed or garnished with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or a drizzle of additional caramel sauce.
You can use condensed milk or sugar and replace the milk with evaporated milk. There are many variations of leche asada. I recommend the Dulce de Leche and Lucuma.
Kadin says
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?
Pilar Hernandez says
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.
Valentina says
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?
Pilar Hernandez says
Thanks for catching that, and I'm sorry. I corrected the recipe. You add the vanilla to the blender with all the other ingredients.
Christian Guzman says
Have you ever tried it with soy milk or almond. Milk???
Pilar Hernandez says
No.
Marilyn says
This looks delicious. Your directions specify an 8x8 dish—-which implies square—-but the photos show a round cake pan. Which do you recommend? Thanks.
Pilar Hernandez says
The 8x8 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.
Maite sanchez says
Amo sus recetas me ayudan mucho ♥️
Pilar Hernandez says
Me alegro tanto!!!