Palha Italiana Recipe

A few weeks ago my husband came home raving about a dessert (Palha Italiana) he tried at his company potluck. What piqued my interest was he claimed it was better than his maple flan recipe.  Now maybe flan doesn't sound that exciting to you but the flan recipe he has is amazing.  To me it's a cross between creme brulee and flan.  People who don't even like flan love that recipe so naturally I wanted to know more about this "Palha Italiana".

Fast forward to today, I got the recipe and tested it out.  The verdict: I still think the flan is better.  However, this recipe won the dessert potluck contest over all the other fresh baked goods. Since it's so easy to make, I thought some of you might enjoy it for the holiday season. 

This recipe was given to me by the Lyon family.  They also gave me permission to share it with all of you on my blog.   Enjoy!

Palha Italiana Recipe

Ingredients:

2 packages (4.9 oz) of Maria's cookies - pictured above, this box comes with four packages total

2 14oz cans of sweetened condensed milk 

1 stick of butter - the recipes didn't specify unsalted.  If you like a little salty taste use salted, otherwise use unsalted

1 egg

2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder

Sugar for rolling

Non-stick cooking spray

Directions

1.  Break up both packages of cookies into fourths/fifths.  Place in a large bowl and set aside.

2.  Whisk egg and set aside.

3.  In a medium size saucepan, melt butter.  In order, add both cans of sweetened condensed milk, egg and cocoa powder.  Whisk until smooth.

4.  On medium to high heat, cook until mixture thickens (about 10 minutes) stirring continuously.  I found the mixture starts off thick, gets thin from the heat and thickens up again.  The texture of the sauce will be like pudding when it's ready.

5.  Add sauce to bowl of broken cookies and fold in mixture so all the cookies are coated.

6.  Spray a 9 x 13in glass pan with cooking spray.  

7.  Add mixture to pan and spread out to make flat.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or more. 

8.  Once set, take out of fridge and cut the dessert into 1in squares while it's still in the pan.

9.  Roll each square in sugar.  Enjoy

It can be enjoyed chilled or at room temperature.  Our family prefers it at room temperature because of the soft texture.