| 1 | Save a small amount of the milk; put the rest in a saucepan, together with the sugar and vanilla and heat. |
| 2 | Separate the egg whites and save for later. |
| 3 | Beat the egg yolks with the remainder of the milk and add to the heating mixture. |
| 4 | Stir to ensure the sugar is dissolved and bring to near boiling point to thoroughly cook the eggs. |
| 5 | Do not actually boil. |
| 6 | Take the saucepan off the heat. |
| 7 | Dissolve the gelatine in about ?cup of boiling water and stir into hot custard. |
| 8 | Pour into serving dish and put into refrigerator to cool. |
| 9 | When mixture has cooled and almost set (it should be shivery at this point) thoroughly beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them in using a metal spoon. |
| 10 | Return mixture to refrigerator to properly set. |
| 11 | Notes: * exquisite new zealand custard dessert -- this dessert was a family favourite, and although we used to eat it in conjunction with some flavored jellies, it"s delicious in its own right. |
| 12 | The recipe comes from my mother, and i don"t know what the spanish part signifies. |
| 13 | * the texture of this dessert is supposed to be semi-fluffy. |
| 14 | If you fold in the egg whites too soon, the liquid custard won"t support them and you end up with a two-layer result, solid custard on top, very light on the bottom. |
| 15 | Some people may like this, but it"s not the way i make it. |
| 16 | On the other hand, if you leave things too long, it becomes difficult to fold in the egg whites at all. |
| 17 | * it"s a good idea to whip the custard a little with a fork prior to folding in the whites. |
| 18 | This breaks up the custard a little. |
| 19 | * depending on sweetness of taste, you may wish to alter the amount of sugar. |
| 20 | Our family had a sweet tooth, and i"ve reduced the original quantity as it is. |
| 21 | * one of the amazing things about this dessert is that it"s so easy to make, and yet tastes so good. |
| 22 | : difficulty: easy. |
| 23 | : time: 20 minutes + setting. |
| 24 | : precision: approximate measurement ok. |
| 25 | : peter c. maxwell, : computer science dept., univ. |
