Scrumptious Portuguese Meringue Pudding

1. Before beginning the meringue: Bring the 5-6 cups of water to a rolling boil.
2. Using the 2 cups of liquid caramel, grease a tube pan.
3. To prepare the meringue: Beat the 12 egg whites on high until they start forming peaks.
4. Add the 12 tablespoons sugar and 4 tablespoons of liquid caramel to the egg whites and continue beating the mixture until they form very firm peaks.
5. (You will know that it is good enough when you turn your bowl upside down and the mixture is stiff enough not to move!) In an aluminum foil roaster (or any roaster you may have at home) place the boiling water, covering the entire bottom.
6. Place the meringue into the caramel-greased tube pan.
7. Make sure that no air pockets form when placing the meringue in the pan. Make sure it is well packed.
8. Place the tube pan inside the roaster over the boiling water and place it in your oven.
9. Bake 20-30 minutes at a low setting, or until the top turns slightly brown.
10. Special Notes: Previously warming the oven may cause the meringue to brown quicker than it's cooking time.
11. Before removing the meringue from the pan, pass a knife along the sides so it may unstick. Because you are using caramel sauce for the meringue, most of the times it is very stuck to the pan. Unfortunately, this is one of the trickiest parts of the recipe. You may use a little butter to grease the pan before greasing with the caramel sauce, but it doesn't turn out as good as using only the caramel sauce.
12. Enjoy!

Recipe & Photo Credit: Zininha, food.com