A rustic Chilean baked custard of milk, eggs and sugar set over a caramel base. Unlike a silky flan, it is baked uncovered so the top firms and lightly browns, giving it a faintly toasted, almost burnt-edged character.
Leche asada — 'roasted milk' — is a homestyle Chilean custard, rustic kin to flan but baked until the top scorches and the edges firm. Made for generations from pantry staples, it is everyday comfort, not restaurant polish.
The top is firm and faintly toasted, almost like the skin on baked milk, giving way to a tender, wobbling custard beneath. It tastes of warm milk and caramel, less polished than flan but homier, with a gentle bittersweet edge from the browned surface.
Baking uncovered lets the surface proteins dry and brown, creating the signature firm, lightly burnt top. Tempering the eggs with warm milk prevents curdling, while the caramel base both flavors the custard and releases it cleanly from the dish.
Variations
Versions flavored with lemon or orange zest, vanilla, a splash of caramel sauce, or made richer with added egg yolks or evaporated milk
On the Palate
Where Leche Asada sits in the Chilean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
8 steps · 15 min
- 16 min
Melt sugar in a baking dish over low heat until it turns to amber caramel, then swirl to coat the base.
Watch outTake the sugar off the heat the moment it turns amber — a shade darker and it tips into bitter.
- 25 min
Warm the milk gently with a strip of citrus peel or a little vanilla.
- 33 min
Whisk the eggs with sugar until well combined but not foamy.
- 42 min
Slowly whisk the warm milk into the eggs to temper them.
Watch outPour the warm milk into the eggs in a thin stream while whisking — dump it in and the eggs scramble.
- 51 min
Pour the custard into the caramel-lined dish.
- 650 min
Bake uncovered in a moderate oven until set with a lightly browned, slightly cracked top.
Watch outIt's done when the top is set and lightly browned but the center still has a faint wobble — it firms up as it chills.
- 760 min
Cool, then chill until firm.
- 83 min
Cut into squares or scoop, spooning the caramel from the base over each portion.
