Baba de camelo
The Portuguese dessert with the oddest name in European cooking — camel's drool, for its faintly stretchy, pale caramel texture. It has just two ingredients: caramelised condensed milk and eggs. All the work is done by a tin simmered three hours in water until its contents turn to thick caramel. The key rule: the tin must stay submerged throughout — standing above the water it can burst.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Caramelising the tin 180 min
- Cooling 150 min
- Mousse 15 min
- Chilling 120 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneRemove the label and submerge the tin
Peel the label off the unopened tin and lay it on its side in a pot. Cover with water 3 cm above the tin. The label peels off in boiling water and sticks to the base; the paper can scorch.
Ingredients: 400 g sweetened condensed milk · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 3000 ml water
Three centimetres of water above the tin — always.Simmer three hours, topping up
Simmer over low heat for 3 hours, checking the water level every 30 minutes and topping up with boiling water as it drops. A tin standing above the water overheats and can burst under pressure.
Ingredients: 400 g sweetened condensed milk · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 3000 ml water
Cool the tin in the water
Turn off the heat and leave the tin in the water until completely cold, 2–3 hours. Never open a hot tin — the contents are under pressure and can spurt boiling caramel. Warm caramel would also deflate the whites.
Ingredients: 400 g sweetened condensed milk · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 3000 ml water
Beat the caramel with the yolks
Separate the eggs. Open the tin — inside is thick, dark golden caramel. Scrape into a bowl and beat with the yolks into a smooth, even mass. The caramel is dense; mix with a mixer on low until no lumps remain.
Ingredients: 400 g sweetened condensed milk · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 3000 ml water
Caramel and yolks — smooth, without lumps.Whisk the whites stiff
Whisk the whites with a pinch of salt to stiff, glossy peaks. The foam is the only thing aerating this dessert — without it you get a dense caramel cream, not a mousse.
Ingredients: 400 g sweetened condensed milk · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 3000 ml water
Fold in the whites in three additions
Fold the whites into the caramel in three additions, lifting with a spatula. The first loosens the dense caramel, the next two go in gently. The mousse pales and turns airy.
Ingredients: 400 g sweetened condensed milk · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 3000 ml water
The first loosens it, the next two gently.Chill two hours
Spoon into glasses or a single bowl and chill at least 2 hours. The mousse firms slightly and takes on the faintly stretchy texture that gives it its name.
Ingredients: 400 g sweetened condensed milk · 5 pcs eggs · 1 pinch salt · 3000 ml water
Top with biscuits and almonds
Before serving scatter with crushed biscuits and toasted almonds. The crunch balances the very sweet, soft mousse. Portuguese taverns serve it with coffee.
Ingredients: 60 g biscuits · 30 g almonds
Before you start
Raw eggs
Baba de camelo contains raw eggs, so they must be very fresh and from a trusted source. If in doubt, use pasteurised eggs. Do not serve it to small children, pregnant women, older people or anyone with weakened immunity.
Ready caramel in a tin
Shops sell ready caramelised condensed milk, sold as dulce de leche or caramel. It cuts three hours off the recipe and works perfectly.
Two days in the fridge
The mousse keeps two days in the fridge under film. Add the biscuits and almonds only before serving, as they soften. Tins can be caramelised several at a time — unopened, they keep for months.
