Mom’s Portuguese Egg Pudding

After going through every box in storage, I finally found it.  This was one of my favorites that my mom used to make around Thanksgiving. I can taste it now…

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups milk
½ cup sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
Zest of half a lemon
3 eggs
Cinnamon (enough to cover top of pie)

Directions:

• Place the milk, sugar and the flour in a saucepan. Whisk together and cook over medium heat. Add the lemon zest and stir until the mixture thickens to a cream consistency.
• Turn off the heat, place the mixture in a large bowl and allow to cool until lukewarm.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Separate the yolks from the whites. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and set aside.
• Mix lightly the yolks with a fork, and then stir in the lukewarm milk, sugar flour mixture.
• Gently fold in with a spatula the whipped egg whites.
• Pour the mixture in a deep dish pie plate; sprinkle the top with cinnamon, enough to cover completely.
• Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the top is well puffed and firm, even top may be cracked in a couple of places.
• Remove from the oven, allow to cool to room temperature and serve.