Showing posts with label Puddings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Puddings. Show all posts
I have always loved prunes. I used to make a beautiful Prune & Apricot Coffee Cake, which I haven't made in a very long while. Note to self: As soon as the oven is fixed, bake one.
We tend to associate prunes with the elderly and care homes . . . tinned yucky prunes that have a really pasty consistency and are blecch. (Sorry, don't like tinned prunes!)
Ready to eat, dried pitted prunes however, are lovely. Sticky and sweet, sightly chewy. As appealing as raisins or dried apricots.
This recipe I am sharing today is one that comes from this book. A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband, by Louise Bennett Weaver and Helen Cowles LeCron. It was originally published in 1917, and reads like a diary. Its quite good actually. I have cooked a few things from it, and all are very good.
The original recipe actually called for finely chopped Dates. I couldn't find any in my larder, so I used prunes instead . . . with great success!
I also added chopped toasted walnuts . . . for a bit of interest and crunch.
A simple batter containing soft bread crumbs, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, sugar and suet . . . beaten together. I added some vanilla and lemon extracts.
Some people don't like to use Suet, or have a problem finding it. You can use frozen vegetable shortening, grated if you wish, and you could also use butter, but, personally, I think butter would make it very rich.
It is a steamed pudding . . . you simply mix the batter together and then pop it into a buttered pudding basin, or buttered individual pudding basins. If you do it as one large pudding, it will take roughly twice the time as the individual ones.
Don't worry if you don't have individual pudding basins, you can also use custard cups . . . even small tins, about the size of a mandarin tin. Just make sure you butter them well.
There is a lovely lemon sauce that you can also make to spoon over the finished puddings . . .
Its lush and low in fat . . . but large on flavour . . . don't be tempted to skip it. Its gorgeous.
You could of course also serve it with ice cream or even pouring cream . . .
Just don't skip the lemon sauce!
When I make it again (and I WILL!) I am going to add some chopped dried apricots . . . they are so jewel-like and taste fabulous with prunes!
Bottom line . . . with prunes, or prunes and apricots . . . with dates . . . toasted nuts or not, this is one very gorgeous pudding.
Your family is sure to love it.
Steamed Prune & Walnut Puddings
Yield: 4
These lovely steamed puddings are studded with sticky bits of prune and crunchy toasted walnuts. Don't skip the lemon sauce. They go perfectly, deliciously together!
ingredients:
- 40g soft fresh bread crumbs (2/3 cup)
- 80g plain flour (2/3 cup)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 85g finely chopped suet (2/3 cup)
- 125g granulated sugar a92/3 cup)
- 1 large free range egg
- 100g finely chopped prunes (2/3 cup)
- 40g chopped toasted walnuts (1/3 cup)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- 156ml milk (2/3 cup
Lemon Sauce:
- 95g sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 TBS plain flour
- 240ml water (1 cup)
- the juice of one lemon
- 1 tsp butter
instructions:
How to cook Steamed Prune & Walnut Puddings
- You will need a steaming pan, and four individual molds, or custard cups. (heat proof). Butter the four molds or cups really well. Have ready 4 squares of tinfoil which you have also buttered and pleated in the middle, and which are large enough to wrap over the tops of the cups securely.
- Measure all of the ingredients for the pudding into a bowl, in order given. Stir well for several minutes. Divide between the four cups. Place boiling water in the bottom of the steamer. Secure the tops of the cups with the pleated and buttered foil, covering them completely. Place them into the rack of the steamer. Cover and steam over simmering water for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick into one. If it comes out clean they are done.
- About 15 minutes before they are done make the sauce. Measure the sugar and flour into a small saucepan. Whisk together and then whisk in the water. Cook, stirring for about 2 minutes over moderate heat, at which time the sugar should have melted and it will have slightly thickened. Beat in the lemon juice and the butter.
- Run a knife around the inside rim of each mold. Insert over serving plate (s) and gently tip out. Spoon a bit of sauce over top and pass the remainder at the table.
- Serve hot.
NOTES:
Any leftovers can be reheated gently in a steamer for about 10 to 15 minutes.
I had been going to make us a coconut cream pie for dessert this Easter along with a Robin's Egg Blue iced cake roll (filled with lemon curd).
I bought the food colouring and everything, but alas . . . without a reliable oven, this idea was a total bust!! What to do instead???
I had spied a recipe for a Creamy Rice Pudding with Cinnamon Sugar in that same cookery book I got the chocolate pudding recipe from the other day.
I then decided that since Rice Pudding is Todd's favourite thing on earth, I would make it for him.
How hard could it be? Not hard at all, that's the answer!
Everything simply gets mixed together in a slow cooker and the slow cooker(crockpot) does all the work. You do have to stir it several times during the cooking process . . . but that's not much of a hardship really . . .
It leaves you hands and stove-free to prepare the rest of your meal with perfect ease! No fuss no muss!
On a side note, have you ever considered serving your desserts in a pretty tea cup? They really make for a beautiful presentation!
Included with the pudding is a recipe for an optional raspberry sauce to spoon over top. Num num!
I hadn't actually planned it this way, but I ended up with a red, white and blue dessert! How very patriotic of me!
The rice pudding itself is flavoured with a strip of orange peel/zest. Just carve it off of a well-washed orange with a vegetable peeler. Easy peasy.
You will also need a whole vanilla pod. (you could use vanilla paste as well I think) Don't think of it as a waste of a vanilla pod, just slit it in half before you stick it in the pudding and when done, rinse it off, dry and then stick it into your sugar canister for some lovely vanilla sugar!
The top of the finished pudding is gilded with a bit of cinnamon sugar . . . not enough to take over the pudding, but just enough to give you a light hint of the flavour.
Once again, I cut the recipe in half and cooked it in my small oval shaped slow cooker. It looks like this.
It is a 1 1/2 litre cooker (1 1/2 qt.) Works a charm for all of this small family's slow cooking needs. I got mine from Amazon a few years ago.
Today I made the optional raspberry sauce to serve with it. I think a fruit sauce goes very well with rice pudding.
Raspberry is very nice, as is cherry. (My favourite is cherry sauce.)
Creamy Rice Pudding with Cinnamon Sugar
Yield: 6
This version of rice pudding is not only delicious but very simple. Just pop everything into the slow cooker and let it do all the donkey-work! Serve with an optional Raspberry Sauce for a real taste treat!
ingredients:
For the pudding:
- 200g uncooked short grain white rice (1 cup) (I use arborio risotto rice)
- 1 1/4 litres of whole milk (5 cups)
- 95g caster sugar (1/2 cup, super fine granulated sugar)
- 2-inch piece of fresh orange rind/zest in one piece
- 1 vanilla bean
For the Cinnamon Sugar:
- 2 TBS caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the raspberry sauce:
- 150g frozen raspberries (5 1/2 ounces)
- 45g sugar (1/4 cup)
- 1 TBS water
instructions:
- To make the rice pudding, measure everything for the pudding into the bowl of a 4 1/2 litre (18 cup) slow cooker/crock pot. (I like to split the vanilla pod in two first.) Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, stirring several times. Remove and discard the orange zest and the vanilla pod. (I like to rinse the pod off, dry and then stick it into my sugar bowl.)
- Mix together the sugar and cinnamon for the cinnamon sugar topping and sprinkle over top.
- To make the raspberry sauce, stew the raspberries together with the water and sugar in a saucepan until softened.
- Serve the pudding warm, with the cinnamon sugar on top and with the raspberry sauce (if using) drizzled over each serving. A drizzle of cream is also nice.
This really went down a real treat. My husband was in pudding heaven! I had a tiny taste (I am trying to stay away from sugar) and I have to say it is really delicious. Not over the top sweet. Just right! Happy Easter!
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I am an old fashioned girl and the things which bring me the most pleasure in life are simple things and ordinary pleasures. That goes for the way I choose to live my life, dress, keep my home and, most especially, with the things which bring me joy when it comes to food . . . cooking and eating.
A simple rice pudding falls well within the realms of what brings me lots of pleasure . . . simple, milky . . . a nursery type of food. Comfort food at its very best . . .
This version is a tad bit fancier than the usual in that it boasts a simple flapjack topping. Now you North Americans might be a bit confused by that terminology. We are not talking about pancakes here, but about a very British, very delicious oatmeal square/slice that is chewy, sticky and sweet with golden syrup.
Very moreish with a nice hot cuppa. I have several recipes for them on here, which you can find here. Scrumdiddlyumptious! (To say the least!)
The pudding itself involves very few ingredients, some pudding rice (short grained), a bit of sugar and milk, with a dotting of butter. You might think that it sees like a very tiny amount of rice, but trust me when I say it is the perfect amount!
As you can see it thickens very nicely. There is also not a lot of sugar, which is a good thing . . . .
You don't need a lot of sugar in a rice pudding, and let me assure you, that golden flapjack topping is plenty sweet enough!!
You will want to bake it in a shallow baking dish, so that there is plenty of surface to spread the topping over, so that it cooks up perfectly . . . and crispy oaty beneath the grill.
This really is a most gorgeous pudding! Todd had seconds, and I found myself sneaking tiny spoonfuls every time I went past it in the kitchen, even after it was cold . . . yes, I am a very naughty girl . . .
I always find it quite magical the way a few simple ingredients, put together properly, can create something so delicious as this pudding.
I shouldn't be surprised really . . . just look around us. We are surrounded by beautiful things that are quite simple really . . . and yet not so simple . . . baby toes, rose petals, a robin's spring song, the loving nudge of a wet nose from a beloved furry family member . . .
In any case you need to make this pudding. I think in North America you can get Golden Syrup online and if you can't find it, you can use corn syrup in it's place. Golden syrup does have a lovely caramel like flavour however, so if you can get it, I highly recommend.
Flapjack Topped Rice Pudding
Yield: 4
A delicious simple and comforting rice pudding with a fabulous Flapjack Topping
ingredients:
- 50g pudding rice (short grained like aborio) (1/4 cup)
- 2 TBS caster sugar
- 600ml whole fat milk (2 1/2 cups)
- 1 TBS butter
For the topping:
- 25g porridge oats (1/3 cup)
- 100g golden syrup (1/3 cup)
instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Buter a 1 litre/2 pint shallow oven proof dish really well. Set aside.
- Rinse the rice under cold water. Dry well with paper towels. Sprinkle over the bottom of the buttered dish. Sprinkle the sugar over all. Pour the milk on top and dot all over with little bits of the butter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 2 hours, until just golden brown and thick. Remove from the oven and preheat the grill/broiler.
- Gently heat the golden syrup and oats together, just until the syrup thins out a bit. Drizzle evenly over top of the rice pudding and then pop under the heated grill for about 5 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown.
- Let cool for a few minutes prior to serving.
If you only make one dessert this weekend, make it this one. You will really be happy that you did! Trust me on this!
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