pudding Archives - Page 2 of 3

Double Chocolate Sticky Date Pudding

27|09|2014

The only thing better than a sticky date pudding is a sticky date pudding with a double dose of chocolate. Spring is starting to set in and it’s filling my life with many new excitements. Spring for me, is the time to take a good look at life and remark ‘Yes, it’s time to detox..its time for change!’. Normally what people would do at the start of New Year. Somehow leaving winter behind gives me a burst of energy. I wake up with a list of things to do pretty much every morning. One of the resolutions I had made for this Spring was to improve my photography and pick up some new skills. I have been working hard in doing so. If you follow me on Instagram, you would know that I was very excited when I shared my first ever ‘pour shot’ recently. As a lover of all things sweet, nothing spells ‘food porn’ to me than a sauce dripping dessert. I chose the sticky date pudding with chocolate chips to be the subject of my pour. Again, raising the bar to my creativity is one more journey I have embarked on. I have to admit, I have always been a bit fearless in the kitchen. It is a very spontaneous thing for me. Rarely have I entered the kitchen with a fixed outcome in mind or followed a recipe to the T. This time around I have decided to fuel this passion and try my hand at as many things as possible. You may get to see a lot of pouring, drizzling, sprinkling and such on the blog in future.

The sticky date pudding is such a gorgeous thing to share with friends and family. Especially on a special get-together when comfort and pleasure over-rides any form of calorie induced guilt. I wanted to make the pudding a centrepiece. There is already a recipe for individual sticky date puddings in my blog archives which is quite luscious with a butterscotch sauce. But chocolate is different, it just works with everything. It gives an extra oomph to anything and everything. This version of the pudding has chocolate chips and toasted walnuts inside the batter, on top and dressed up in a rich, bittersweet chocolate sauce. Frankly, there is no major innovation in this, just that you want to convince yourself if you really want to play around with a dessert that is already so beautiful to taste and look at. Yes, you want to! Trust me, you will love to eat it and share it.

If this is the first time you are going to make a sticky date pudding, there is very little date-like taste in your mouth. I know quite a few people who don’t enjoy dates in desserts. This is far from being chewy or munchy and all the textures you associate with dates. The dates are broken down right at the start and what you get is actually a rich caramel like sauce that flavours the pudding. You can make this recipe in 8 individual cups instead of one large. As you can see, the pudding holds shape beautifully, almost like a cake. It is very gooey inside however and the centre might sink a tad bit. Which actually formed the base to catch my chocolate sauce during the shoot. I could not take pictures of the insides like I normally do as I was jumping with excitement when I blew up the image on my screen. I wish I could show you the number of images I had with sauce hanging in mid-air and of course the blurry ones. Kind of spooky!
We just had to celebrate and all we wanted was a mouthful of the Sticky date pudding.

Double Chocolate Sticky Date Pudding
Serves 8

180g dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1 1/4 cups (310ml) water
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 cup (165g) firmly packed brown sugar
60g butter, softened chopped
2 eggs
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup toasted walnuts

For the dark chocolate sauce
100g dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup pouring/single cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C fan-forced). Lightly grease an 18 cm round cake pan and line base with baking paper.. Place dates and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Remove from the heat. Add bicarbonate of soda, stir until dates start to break down, set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.
Place the chocolate chips, walnuts and flour together in a bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl using a hand beater, gradually add eggs one at a time, beat until light and fluffy. Add date mixture, stir to combine. Carefully fold through the flour and chocolate chip mixture, pour into prepared cake pan.

Place cake in a baking tray, carefully pour water in tray until it comes up 1/3 of the sides of the pan. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until golden and skewer comes out clean. Leave in pan for 10 minutes. then carefully turn out pudding onto a serving plate or tray. Serve warm with Chocolate Sauce, extra chocolate chips and toasted walnuts.

Make the Dark Chocolate Sauce : Combine chocolate, cream and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool. To store, pour into a cup/jar, cover and store in the refrigerator till needed. Warm up before using.

Orange Almond Self Saucing Pudding

22|09|2014

The whole of last week, I thought I was craving pie. A good Aussie meat pie with chunks of meat in a rich gravy encased in buttery flaky pastry. I saw it somewhere and then somewhere else and then I craved it. Several times during the week at dinner and even breakfast I told my husband ‘I wish I was having pie, instead’. Yet when I stood in the bakery facing the most fabulous choices of pies, my eyes travelled to the cakes, muffins and tarts on the shelves next to them. ‘Carrot cake’ I told the lady at the counter , much to my husband’s surprise. In my mind, I told myself ‘Carrot cake with cream cheese icing and toasted walnuts…YUM! Sometimes for me, the line between what I think I want to eat and what I really want to it can get a little blurry. Possibly the little side-effects that come with dealing with food all the time. Possibly I am eating too much with my eyes lately.

But there are some things that I know will never fail to satisfy my innermost cravings and those that I can eat with my eyes, mouth and heart wide open. Like the curries of my childhood (heady with the smell of ginger, garlic and Garam masala), heavily buttered toast, cupcakes over muffins (any day) loaded with sprinkles, chocolate chips (instead of pepitas or cranberries) on my oatmeal, at least half a cup of parmesan cheese on my pasta and gooey warm puddings that hide sauces underneath. Agreed that I have to shed of some of (okay, a lot of) the winter weight I have gained but it’s Spring, it’s still cold and puddings are very much on.

This pudding excites me over any other pudding I have ever made because it has almond milk in it. Regular milk will work just as fine but if you have almond milk at home or planning to get some, try this pudding. It is every bit citrus-y as much as it is nutty and livened with a gorgeous sauce beneath. I was already a big fan of the orange-almond combo and could have loved the cake alone. The thick sauce is an added bonus. Comfort food at it’s best!
It is quite an easy pudding to make. The only thing you need to take care of is to not to over-cook the pudding or you will not have enough sauce left. A tad bit undercooked is better than making a cake out of the pudding. The basic pudding recipe was adapted from here. When I made it the first time, I thought it could do with more sauce which is the true essence of a self-saucing pudding. So I made some adjustments to the recipe, experimented with almond milk and it turned out the way I wanted it to be. I baked the pudding in two baking dishes as I did not have a large one. In that case, you may need to reduce the baking time by 10 minutes.

Orange Almond Self-Saucing Pudding
Serves 6

Melted butter, to grease
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup almond meal
1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind
3/4 cup almond milk
1 egg
50g butter, melted, cooled
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/2 cup castor sugar, extra
2 cups fresh orange juice
1 tbsp. Cointreau (or any other orange liqueur, optional)
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 180 degree C (fan-forced 160 degrees C) Brush a 1.5L (6-cup) capacity oven-proof dish with melted butter. Place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. Sift flour into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar, almond meal and orange rind.

Whisk the almond milk, egg and butter in a jug until combined. Add to the flour mixture and use a wooden spoon to stir until smooth and combined. Pour into the prepared dish. Use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface.

Combine cornflour and extra sugar in a bowl. Sprinkle over the pudding mixture. Place orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to the boil. Remove from heat and add the Cointreau (if using). Gradually pour over the back of a spoon onto the mixture.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a cake-like top forms and a skewer inserted halfway into the centre of the pudding comes out clean.

Set aside for 5 minutes to stand. Dust with icing sugar and serve hot with custard or vanilla ice cream.

Caramelised Onion and Feta Bread and Butter Pudding

31|08|2014

At this time, I am surrounded by cartons, boxes, suitcases, bubble wrap, tapes, dismantled furniture, two sleeping children, two walls, a French window, and a glorious sunset. I moved houses yesterday. For the past two weeks I have been wrapping, labelling and boxing items like a pro. The kind of calm and organised behaviour that comes from experience only. This was the second time I moved houses in a year. Over the last couple of years I have lived in 5 different houses, cooked in 5 different kitchen and blogged from 4 of them. We did not plan it like that. Not with two young children. But it happened for a different reason each time. There are some good things that come with change though, more so at a spiritual level. You learn to give up and give away. You learn to adapt and detach and find beauty in the simplest of things.

Amongst the first few things I noticed in my new neighbourhood were the cherry blossom trees. Pretty pink cherry blossom flowers in bloom. Spring is round the corner. Gosh! Officially just a day away..my favourite time of the year. It is the time for fresh starts…positive changes..renewed hope, energy and revitalisation. I have a new markets to explore, a new oven to figure…fresh angles to work with my camera. Renewed inspiration. Speaking of inspiration, Donna Hay is a constant source. I can’t ever think of a time when I look at her food photos and don’t feel inspired. This unique tasting bread and butter pudding is simple to put together but the flavours are gorgeous. Sweet caramelised onions, salty feta, earthy rosemary and the gooey warmth of bread pudding on a cold day. The original recipe uses goat’s cheese and is slightly different. I changed it to suit my taste buds and convenience.

I used store bought caramelised onion relish. So then it is a matter of just layering, pouring, baking and finally digging in with a large spoon into the very core of deliciousness. To get a nicely browned crust I kept the pudding under the broiler of my oven for a few minutes.

Caramelised Onion and Feta Bread and Butter Pudding
Serves 4

I loaf sourdough (approx. 600 g) , sliced
1 jar caramelised onion relish
150 g firm feta cheese, crumbled
a few rosemary leaves
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups single/pouring cream
salt and cracked pepper for seasoning
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Arrange the bread slices horizontally in a loaf fan or baking dish. Spoon the caramelised onion relish, crumbled feta and some of the rosemary leaves in between the bread slices.
Whisk to together the eggs, cream, parmesan, salt and pepper and slowly pour over the bread. Let stand for 15 minutes for the bread to soak up the mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until set with a golden brown crust. Broil for two minutes for an extra brown crust. Garnish with remaining rosemary leaves.

Lemon Delicious Pudding

22|01|2014

When life gives you lemons what do you do? Do you make lemonade or lemon curd? Or Nimbu Paani?
Well, life didn’t give me lemons. Or melons. I had to get them myself. All the way from the markets. The markets are not that far away but it’s a rainy day. Have I told you how unpredictable our weather is! Thankfully, the pudding is not. It is very much the way it is and totally lives up to its name.

Australia Day (26th January) is one holiday I really look forward to. The date especially has always been special because that also happens to be Republic Day in India and I have great memories of fun wintry things I used to do on this holiday. I take this day as a great opportunity to whip up some of the Aussie classic sweet treats at home. I find it hard to decide which one as I love every one of them. The Pav is a must every year. Last year I also made the sticky date pudding. This year I debated between the golden syrup dumplings and the lemon delicious pudding. Finally, I realised I could do without the dumplings as I am lately looking like one myself. Seriously, I am almost embarrassed not to be joining the army of fit and health conscious people marching along the water side in my area while I am sitting and looking up recipes on my mobile.

I am not sure how the pudding got its name but I know that all the people I have made this for till date have told me they loved it. This is a self saucing pudding. Meaning, the pudding separates during the cooking process into a light cakey top and a thick lemon sauce below. All you need to ensure is that you don’t overcook it otherwise you won’t be left with enough lemon sauce. The flavours and textures are a treat. The recipe is also fairly simple. If you are a person who is intimidated by egg whites like I used to be years ago, put your worries aside. We are looking for soft peaks..where the peaks are just starting to form and fall back when the beaters are lifted. Other than that, it is all about adding and stirring. The baking takes place in a water bath..like a crème Brule. I have divided the batter into 4 individual baking cups and an oval baking dish (to give you a clear view how it looks on the inside). You can make them in individual ramekins. That way it’s easier to serve.

I also wanted to share with you that this is one pudding which tastes amazing, warm or cold. So many reasons to make this. I hope you give it a try.

Lemon Delicious Pudding (adapted with a slight variation from Taste.com)
Serves 6

150g unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 cups castor sugar
3/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup plain flour + 3/4 tsp baking powder)
1 1/2 cups milk (I used semi skim)
4 eggs, separated
Icing sugar , to dust

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C for fan-forced) Grease six 1 cup-capacity oven-proof dishes.

Place butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, flour, milk and egg yolks in a bowl. Whisk to combine.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites on high-speed until soft peaks form. Using a metal spoon, fold one-quarter of the egg white into lemon mixture. Gently fold in remaining egg white.

Spoon mixture into prepared dishes. Place dishes in a large baking dish. Pour boiling water into baking dish until halfway up sides of smaller dishes. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and just set. If you want a brown crust on top, put the oven on the grill mode for an additional 5 minutes. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.