Pudim Abade de Priscos is the most audacious dessert in the Portuguese canon: a caramel-glazed pudding of fifteen egg yolks, sugar syrup, Port wine — and bacon fat. Invented by the Abbot of Priscos, the celebrated priest-gourmet of 19th-century Minho, it sounds improbable and tastes like silk.
The lard is not a gimmick: it gives the pudding a depth and gloss no butter can match, while the Port and cinnamon keep everything perfumed and elegant. Nobody guesses the secret ingredient; everybody asks for seconds.
It is also a masterclass in Portuguese egg-yolk cookery — the same conventual tradition behind encharcada and pudim flan, taken to its most luxurious conclusion. Save the whites for farófias.
Pudim Abade de Priscos Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1¾ cups water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 large strip lemon peel (no white pith)
- 1 tablespoon bacon fat or lard
- 15 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons Port wine
- ½ cup granulated sugar, for the caramel
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F and lightly grease a pudding mold or Bundt pan.
- Combine the sugar, water, cinnamon, lemon peel and bacon fat in a saucepan. Heat until the sugar dissolves, then simmer gently 10 minutes. Cool slightly.
- Whisk the yolks until smooth, then gradually whisk in the warm syrup. Add the Port.
- Melt the ½ cup sugar in a small pan into a golden caramel and swirl it around the bottom of the mold.
- Strain the egg mixture through a fine sieve into the caramel-lined mold.
- Cover with foil, set in a larger dish, and add hot water halfway up the sides.
- Bake about 1½ hours, until set with a slight jiggle at the center.
- Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Run a knife around the edge, invert onto a plate, and let the caramel cascade. Slice thin — it is rich.
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