Recipe: Brazilian Quindins

From the Vitality Food Feature ‘COCONUT CRAVINGS‘.

A typical Brazilian dessert, these little cakes or puddings are called Quindins. My version uses more egg white, which makes them slightly lighter than those typically found in Brazil. The coconut floats to the top while cooking and leaves a jelly-like layer of custardy sugar and egg at the bottom. They are removed from the pan and turned upside down so that the coconut acts as a crust for the custard, which should be on the top when served.
(Makes 12 Quindins)

Ingredients

• 1 12-mold muffin tin, lightly greased
• 1 baking pan, large enough to hold the muffin tin
• 5 large eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar crystals
• ¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp soft coconut oil or butter
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C)
2. Separate eggs, placing 5 yolks in a bowl and 3 whites in a separate bowl.
3. Discard or reserve remaining 2 whites for another use. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
4. In a bowl, blend together coconut sugar crystals, sugar and oil.
5. Using hand-held or electric beaters, beat in the egg yolks.
6. Stir in coconut. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Spoon into prepared muffin tins.
7. Place tin in a larger baking pan filled with 1-inch boiling water.
8. Bake for 35 minutes or until firm and golden.
9. Remove from bain-marie** and let cool until the sides begin to pull away from the sides of the muffin wells.
10. Transfer to a cooling rack, flipping the quindins so the coconut is on the bottom and the egg custard is on the top.

**To set the egg-sugar mixture into a custard-like texture, we use a bain-marie, which prevents the eggs from cooking too fast and hardening like scrambled eggs. A bain-marie is simply a large pan that holds boiling water into which is set the pan with the quindins. The water cooks the egg custard gently and evenly.