Semola con Leche con Caramelo de Crema y Ron (Semolina Custard smothered with Cream Rum Caramel)

This is one of the desserts that take me immediately home. It is so fresh and light, soft and easy to make, yes, VERY easy to make, so if you want to give this a try... let's get started then!


Ingredients:


- For the Semola con Leche

1 quart of milk
1 cup of semolina
1/4 cup of sugar
1 cinnamon stick
orange or lemon peel


- For the Cream Rum Caramel Sauce:

1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of water
1 tspn. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. Dark Rum
1 cup heavy whip cream


Directions:

In a heavy small sauce pan put the water and sugar under high heat until it dissolves and reaches amber color. In a measuring cup for liquids mix the cream, rum and vanilla extract. Using a sieve on top of the pot, pour the cream mixture. It will bubble hard and even splatter. Do not remove the sieve. Once the mixture has settled a little, remove the pot from the heat and stir it with a wooden spoon. Transfer the caramel to the pan you'll use for the Semola con Leche (I used a tube pan), and set aside.

In a bigger pot, pour the milk, cinnamon stick, orange or lemon peel and sugar in a pot and let it boil. In the mean time, dissolve the semolina in cold water. Once the milk is boiling, add the semolina mixture and stir it with a wooden spoon or a whisk until it thickens (You have to do it constantly, otherwise you'll get lots of lumps). Make sure to adjust the heat of your stove so it only simmers and do not boil hard. Once is thick and silky, pour the mixture over the caramelized pan.

Let it cool off at room temperature. Then, refrigerate for at least an hour. Once you are ready to serve, simply place a platter on top of the pan and flip it upside down. Let the caramel cover the semolina.