Tag Archives: Pudding

Chocolate Roulade

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Chocolate Roulade (May 2013) Adam Dowell - all rights reserved

I am a huge fan of roulades or swiss rolls. They have the perfect balance of a delicious creamy filling with a moist cake.

The fear of cracking the cake open with deep crevasses when rolling it up can intimidate some people to the point that they wont try. I say give it a try. So what if it cracks on your first or second attempt? The point is to give it a try and practice so that you know what works for you. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I know that when something doesn’t work in my kitchen nothing is ever wasted. It all tastes just as delicious.

Views on the correct technique used to roll the cake is polarized and some authors have very strong opinions. Some will gasp at the idea of rolling the cake when it is fresh from the oven and will tell you the cake will most certainly crack. Yet, this method works for me every time.

Roulade
4 eggs
100g plain flour
100g castor sugar
20g cocoa (preferably Dutch)
1 tbs warm water
½ tsp baking powder

Cream Filling
300ml cream
1 vanilla pod
50g castor sugar

Pre heat the oven to 190°C. Line a swiss-roll baking tray with baking paper and keep a small amount of paper overhang to help lift the cake when it is baked.

Whisk the eggs until they have at least tripled in volume and have a very pale colour. With the mixer still whisking, add the castor sugar a tablespoon at a time to ensure that the volume in the eggs is not lost.

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder together three times to ensure it is light and airy. Gently fold the dry ingredients and the tablespoon of warm water into the egg mixture until it is just combined.

Use a pallet knife to evenly spread the mixture to the edges of the baking tray and to make sure that the surface is even and smooth.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and use the paper overhang to lift the cake onto a clean surface. Roll the cake into the classic roulade shape beginning by folding one edge in then slowly and gently continuing along the cake to the other end. Leave it sit rolled up for a about five minutes then very gently unroll the cake into its original shape. The ends of the cake will remain curled up. Leave the cake to cool completely.

Whip the cream with the castor sugar and the seeds scraped from one vanilla pod. Use a pallet knife to spread the cream evenly along the surface of the cake. Try to leave about 2cm at one end so that when the cake is rolled, the excess cream will fill the gap without spilling over the edge.

Place the roulade seam side down. Dust with cocoa and serve.

Fig and Prune Tart

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Fig and Prune Tart (Dec 2012) Adam Dowell - All rights reserved

Using sherry soaked fruit, this tart is definitely not for children. The cooking times are not long or intense enough to burn off the alcohol, so each mouthful tends to give a little kick.

I’ve previously written about the sherry soaked fruit that has become a backbone in my Christmas fare. This year, I modified the fruit mix by using dried figs and prunes. I added the chopped fruit to the imbued fruit from last year and topped up the jar with enough sherry to cover the fruit. If you do this, leave it to soak for as long as you can, preferably for a year, but a month will do.

If you’ve left soaking the fruit too late, don’t fret. You can place your chopped dried fruit into a saucepan and just cover with enough sherry. Bring the pot to a very gentle simmer and leave it to slowly bubble away until the fruit has swollen and the bulk of the sherry has evaporated. Leave it to cool and you’re done.

To bring a bit more Christmas cheer to the tart, I’ve added freshly ground hazelnut meal and the zest of an orange. The pastry is very short, but I like the crumbly contrast with the rich sweet fruit.

250g plain flour
150g butter, chilled
80g hazelnut meal
1 egg, chilled
1 tbsp castor sugar
zest of one orange
pinch sea salt
4 cups sherry soaked figs and prunes

Blitz all the ingredients except the fruit, in a food processor until it starts to form a small ball. Tip the pastry onto a cold, clean work surface. Bring the pastry together into a solid ball without kneading. Put the smooth ball in a clean bowl covered with cling wrap and place in in the fridge for at least an hour. Don’t over work the pastry – be quick and gentle – it will give a more crumbly and finer texture.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Wipe the flan tin with a small amount of vegetable oil.

Roll the pastry out on a clean work surface until it is approximately 0.25-0.5cm thick. Line the flan tin (12 x 36cm) with the pastry and press it into the corners and edges with clean fingers or a spoon. Cover the pastry with baking paper and blind bake with baking beads for about 15 minutes. Remove the beads and baking paper and bake for a further 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven, but leave it in the tin.

Place the soaked fruit into a sieve and let the excess juice drain away. (I return the excess liquid back to the remaining jar of fruit for next year’s fruit – it helps to intensify the flavours)

Spoon the fruit in to the tart shell and gently press it down into the corners and edges. Bake the tart for 20 minutes. Allow it to cool before removing from the tin.

Burnt Sugar Cakes

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Calling something burnt could be argued to be foolish, but when you burn sugar you get caramel, and that can only mean one thing – yum!

This recipe came to me when a friend generously let me read a few of her Grandmother’s cookbooks. Deep within one of the 50-year-old tomes, I discovered a recipe for a burnt sugar cake and while I was driving home that evening, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the recipe. I tweaked it here and there, used a small tray of loaf tins rather than one large cake tin, and added a caramel sauce to give it a lick of syrupy goodness. It was on the plate and taken to the table within the hour. I think this cake gives you a terrific blend of old-school classic baking in the current era when architectural sculptures are served.

Burnt Sugar Syrup
100ml castor sugar
1 tbsp water

Place the castor sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring it to a gentle boil. Do not agitate or stir the sugar while it is melting. When the sugar has melted, turn the heat down and continue to simmer until a deep caramel colour appears. Remove it from the heat and transfer it to a small glass bowl to stop the cooking. Set it aside.

Burnt Sugar Cake
500g plain flour, sifted
300g castor sugar
160ml milk
140g unsalted butter
4 tbs burnt sugar syrup
3 eggs
3 tsp baking powder.
1 tps vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease 10 small loaf tins (approx 4x8cm)

Cream the butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy. Add each egg one at a time, ensuring each is well combined before adding the next, followed by the vanilla extract. Add the flour, baking powder, milk and burnt sugar syrup. When the mixture is combined, spoon small amounts into each loaf tin.

Bake in the oven for 20mins or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Remove from the loaf tin and cool on a cake rack.

Caramel Sauce
100g castor sugar
50ml cream
75g unsalted butter, diced into small cubes

In small saucepan, gently melt the sugar without stirring or agitating over a medium heat. When the sugar has tuned into a deep rich caramel colour, remove it from the heat. Leave it to sit for a minute then add the cream taking care to avoid the volcanic bubbling that will erupt. Add a cube of butter and stir until it has melted and combined with the mixture. Continue to add each cube of butter until you have a luscious caramel sauce.

Serve each cake, gently warmed with a spoon or two of the warm caramel sauce.

Chocolate Fondant

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I often have moments in the kitchen when it is challenging to plan a dinner with several courses and with limited space and time in the oven. It’s usually when we have guests due at the dinner table and I want something for dessert that will bring a certain wow factor with it. Chocolate fondants meet all my criteria and they only need a few minutes in the oven which means you can leave them to the last-minute. Even better, you can prepare the puddings well ahead of time.

Preparing the moulds well to prevent them sticking and certain ruin at the end is the key to success. Use a piece of paper towel dabbed in some soft butter to rub the inside of the dariole moulds. Then use a teaspoon of cocoa powder to dust the mould and gently rotate it in all directions for a smooth and even coat.  If you place a small square of grease proof baking paper at the base of the mould they will always turn on the plate following a swift turn of the knife around the edges after they come out of the oven.

If you make and bake them straight away, they take 8 minutes in the over. If you place them in the fridge for a few hours before baking, given them 10 minutes in the oven. And if you freeze them, and they freeze very well, given them 12 minutes straight from the freezer.

200g chocolate
200g unsalted butter
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
80g caster sugar
150g plain flour, sifted
Cocoa, extra for dusting and preparing the dariole moulds
Butter, extra for the dariole moulds

Prepare 6 dariole moulds by lightly wiping each with soft butter and dusting them with cocoa. Place a small square of grease proof baking paper at the base of the mould and place each one on a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Place a small glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Add the chocolate and butter to the bowl and melt slowly. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Whisk the egg yolks and eggs for several minutes using a mixer until the eggs have nearly tripled in volume and are pale and light. Slowly add the sugar with the whisk still beating the eggs.

With the mixer on low, gently pour the chocolate and butter into the egg mixture until it is evenly combined. Remove the egg and chocolate from the mixer and use a metal spoon to gently fold in flour and mix until it is just combined. Don’t over beat the mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the ready dariole moulds and bake in the oven for 8 minutes.

Remove the fondants from the oven and run a sharp clean knife around the edge. Turn the mould over a serving plate and allow it to gently fall to the plate. Dust each pudding with cocoa powder and serve fresh and hot.

Vanilla Custard Tapioca Pudding with Passion Fruit Cream

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It is not hard to see why tapioca or sago pudding was a common dish served during the war and post war periods. A little bit goes a very long way – one third of a cup can make enough pudding for a family of four – so to describe it as economical is almost an understatement. Equally so, it’s not hard to understand why children call it tadpole or fish eye pudding because the tiny transparent tapioca beads keep their spherical shape, giving the dessert an interesting texture and appearance.

Many would describe this dessert as retro. While they are not wrong, it doesn’t deserve to be relegated to the annuls of culinary history. There is every reason to confidently serve this dish. It is simple comfort food at it’s best.

While this version is vanilla, I have made a lime and coconut version by adding lime leaves to the milk at the beginning and swapping the milk for good quality coconut cream. I have also made an apple pie version where I added stewed apple and cinnamon to following recipe and omitted the passion fruit cream.

Vanilla Custard Tapioca Pudding
65g tapioca / sago seeds
500ml milk
200ml water
2 egg yolks
1 vanilla pod, halved
50g castor sugar

Add the tapioca seeds, 250ml (half) milk and water to a heavy based and preferably non-stick saucepan. It is really important to prevent the tapioca from sticking or burning. Once this occurs, the pudding is ruined; hence the heavy based non stick preference.

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pods using the back of a knife and add the pods and seeds to the tapioca. Bring the tapioca to a very slow simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring regularly. The tapioca seeds should appear like little glass balls.

Whisk together the castor sugar and egg yolks until the sugar is dissolved. Add the remaining 250ml of milk and pour it into the simmering saucepan. Continue to simmer for another 20-30 minutes, stir ing regularly, until the syrup has a custard-like consistency and the tapioca seeds are soft, swollen and glassy.

Transfer spoonfuls into serving pots or ramekins of your choice. You should get about 2-4 serves depending on the size of the serving pots. Set the pots aside to cool or place them in the fridge to cool completely. You can serve this dish warm or completely chilled.

Passion Fruit Cream
150ml fresh whipping cream
75g passion fruit pulp

Whip the cream into soft peaks and fold the passion fruit pulp through.

Top each pudding with a spoonful of passionfruit cream and serve immediately.

Christmas Pudding Affogato

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Sometimes a quick dessert is required with little time to think about it or prepare it. An affogato is the perfect solution. It’s small and intensely pleasurably with the added bonus of being the perfect pick-me up. You can add a shot of ‘Baileys’ or any other complementing festive spirit for an even more indulgent cup.

Technically, affogato is a way of serving coffee, but at dessert time it can be a way of serving ice-cream.

Affogato is simply a scoop of ice-cream ‘drowned’ (literally, the Italian definition of the word) in coffee. While this recipe uses a christmas pudding semifreddo, you can choose which ever ice-cream flavour you like – just make sure it combines well with coffee and lends its self to the overall experience. By this, I mean don’t use an overwhelmingly hideous flavour such as bubblegum! Rum and Raisin or chocolate ice-cream are two such ideal examples, but it is hard to go past vanilla.

For each glass or cup,
1 good scoop of ice-cream, in this case a festive scoop of Christmas Pudding Semifreddo,
1 shot of hot espresso

Place the scoop of semifreddo or ice-cream in a small glass, cup or tumbler (preferably pre-chilled in the freezer) and pour over the hot espresso. Add any liqueur you prefer if there are no kids around.

Serve straight away.

Gingerbread Crème Brûlée

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Of the many and truly brilliant French films, my most adored would have to be the beautiful Amélie [Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain]. Set in the best loved arrondissement of Paris, the story takes place in and around Abbesses and tells of Amélie’s fantastical world of dreams, fantasy and l’amour. Throughout her story, there are many references to food – from the local l’épicerie of Monsieur Collignon to her love of the crunch a crème brûlée makes when first cracked with a spoon. Just like the film, the sound is suggestive and hypnotic.

A crème brûlée can never be understated and will always leave the table gasping and clapping at it’s arrival. And no matter if it is your first or 100th crème brûlée, the crack of the caramel will never disappoint. Once you’ve mastered the art of the crème brûlée, there is no limit to the flavours you can make.

700ml cream
10 egg yolks
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbs ground ginger
1 tbs ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cardamon
2 tbs castor sugar for the caramel topping

Pre heat the oven to 130°C.

Slowly bring the cream and ground spices to boiling point and remove the saucepan from the heat. Whisk the egg yolks and brown sugar together in a separate bowl.

Slowly pour the cream into the eggs and sugar mixture, whisking at the same time. When combined, place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl is not touching the water. Stir slowly and evenly with a spoon for at least ten minutes. The custard is ready when you can swipe your finger along the back of the spoon leaving a clean mark.

Pour the custard into four ramekins or little pots of your choice of around 125ml each.

Place them in a baking tray and pour water to the half way mark of the tray – making a bain-marie.

Cook the custards for 30 minutes being careful not to let them burn or split. Remove them from the oven and the water bath and allow them to cool for several hours in the fridge.

When you are ready to serve, sprinkle a teaspoon of castor sugar over the top of each custard and gently turn each pot to ensure the sugar is evenly spread.

Use a kitchen blow torch to gently caramelise the sugar, taking care not to really burn it. That said, brûlée does mean ‘to burn’. If you do not have a blowtorch, you can place each pot under a hot grill until the tops have caramelised.

Another option I have found is written by Darina Allen in her book Forgotten Skills of Cooking. Darina suggests making a caramel by bringing 110g of sugar and 75ml of water to the boil until the sugar is dissolved and begins to caramelise. Remove the caramel from the heat and immediately spoon it over the custard.

Allow the caramel to cool and serve. You can add a cornelle of cream or ice cream to the side of the brûlée.

Hot Cross Bun Puddings

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If you love hot cross buns and ‘bread and butter pudding’, then this is joy in one simple bowl. This pudding is delicious, warming and über-comfort food.

You can make bread and butter pudding using the classic loaf of bread, but using hot cross buns elevates a great pudding to one that is sensational. It also makes use of buns that have not been eaten and have aged a couple of days.

If you have these ingredients in the kitchen, then this is a pudding that can be whipped up, whacked in the oven and brought to the table in half an hour. If you don’t have hot cross buns, you can use a simple fruit bun or use a sour dough with plenty of cinnamon and sultanas or raisins.

4-6 cross buns
250ml cream
3 tbs castor sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla paste
Demerara sugar, enough to sprinkle over the top
Butter, enough for each bun

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Lightly butter 4 ramekins or similar individual bowls

Slice each bun in half and generously butter both sides. Rejoin the two halves and cut or tear each one into small segments.

Gently press the segments into each of the ramekins, enough to fill each dish.

In a mixing jug or bowl, lightly whisk the eggs with the castor sugar. Add the cream and vanilla paste. When the custard is evenly mixed, gently and slowly pour it over the buns. Be sure to ensure the gaps between each segment are filled.

Use the back of a spoon to gently push the bun segments down to help move the custard about the bun segments.

Sprinkle each pudding with generous amounts of Demerara sugar.

Place each pudding on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The puddings should become plump and rise a little bit. When the tops are deliciously golden crunchy brown, remove the puddings from the oven.

Serve hot with plenty of cream.

Enjoy,
M.Wag

Pears Poached in Coffee

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I must confess, that fruit is not my first choice for a dessert or pudding. I typically turn to a yummy cake or pudding for my sugar-fix. But there is something dramatic and elegant about a poached pear that offers more than you’d first expect.

Poached pears are easy and you can change the nature of the syrup to suit your taste. The basic rule of thumb is to use a sugar syrup – 1 part sugar to 2 parts water. Then you can add any flavour or spice you like. But take heed of the notion that ‘less is more’. Pick a central flavour that will complement the pear and only add other secondary flavours that will enhance or balance the taste.
This recipe is a version of the classic french dish – poire au vin (pears in wine). Perhaps it would be best called poire au cafe

4 pears, preferably Beurre Bosc
2 cups brown sugar
4 cups water
4 tbs coffee or 4 shots espresso
2 cinnamon sticks
4 cloves

Peel each pear carefully, leaving the stem intact. Using a small knife, cut the hard core from the bottom of the pear in one clean circular motion. Check to make sure the pear is clean and presentable because once the pear is cooked, little can be done to correct blemishes.

In a large pot (enough to comfortably bathe the pears), mix the brown sugar and water together with the coffee. Break the cinnamon sticks and add them to the bath together with the cloves. Bring the water to a gentle boil, then reduce it to a very slow simmer.

Add the pears to the bath and allow them to simmer away. You will need to test the pears at the the 30 minute mark and be prepared to let them continue simmering for a further 30 minutes. There is no real way to put an accurate time on the pears because season, ripeness, variety and size of the pear all play a key part. Use a skewer to test the fattest or widest part of the pear – if it is soft and yielding, they are done. Don’t be worried if the pears take longer to cook – it will make for a much more delicious result.

Remove the pears carefully from the pot and set them aside.

Bring the pot of liquid to a rapid boil and reduce the volume to no more than a third of the original volume. The aim is to create a delicious syrup to top the fruit.

When the volume has reduced, pour the contents of the pot through a sieve to the remove debris and to give a glossy clean syrup.

Plate the pears and pour a tablespoon or two of syrup over the top of the pear.

Serve with a small cornell of softly whipped cream.

Enjoy,
M.Wag

Christmas Pudding

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It seems overtly cliche to question what is ‘Christmas without Christmas pudding’. But I can’t escape the wilful need to do so. So there, I’ve asked the question and now I can move on.

My family always bought the Christmas pudding. So the traditional pudding making seems to have skipped my childhood. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against store bought puddings. Some are incredibly tasty such as Stephanie Alexander’s, which I must say is still a favoured festive treat.

Around five years ago I wanted to make my own Christmas pudding and began the process of trial and error. I started with the classic fruit mix complete with mixed peel and have now come full circle, back to the same classic fruit mix. In the middle, I experimented with adding coffee liqueur, chocolate, espresso coffee and more contemporaneous dried fruits such as cranberries and blue berries. And while these offered great results, I feel much more settled and comfortable with the traditional raisins, currents and mixed peel.

In previous years, I have made one large pudding that boilled for four hours in the first cooking stage, and then again for another four hours on Christmas day. This year I have opted for individual puddings that take much less cooking time, and I think, present much better on the day. I feel that serving individual puddings is ideal, as if each one was purposefully made for everyone at the table. But really, it does not matter how the pudding is served on the day.

This recipe will give 12 individual puddings using moulds of about 1 cup capacity. But I have used the same quantity to make three larger puddings. You will need to adjust your cooking times accordingly. If you make the larger puddings, you need to boil them for around 4 hours each, then again on Christmas day. If you make the smaller individual sized puddings, just follow the instructions below.

750g dried fruit
175g butter
150ml brandy
150g muscovado sugar
150ml sour cream
100g hazelnut meal
100g almond meal
100g plain flour
4 eggs
2 green apples, grated
50g cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg, grated
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger, ground
1/2 tsp allspice
Zest of two oranges

Begin by melting the butter in a large saucepan. Add the dried fruit and brandy and gently simmer on the lowest heat for about 10 minutes. The fruit should have taken on some the brandy and be glistening in the butter sauce. When this is done, place the fruit and the brandied butter to one side to cool.

Prepare the pudding bowls by rubbing them with butter and set them aside until they are needed.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, including the spices and sugar. Add the grated apple, orange zest, eggs, and the sour cream. Combine all the ingredients then add the buttery fruit mixture. Mix all the ingredients together, taking time to make sure they are all well combined.

Pour the mixture into the pudding bowls. Cover the pudding bowls with a layer of baking paper then aluminum foil. Use cooking string to tie the lids down.

Place the puddings in a large pot with enough water to reach two thirds of the way up the pudding bowl and boil the puddings for 2 hours.

When the puddings have cooled, replace the layers of baking paper and foil, discarding the previous layers. Store the puddings in a dark cool cupboard until they are needed on Christmas day.

On Christmas day, repeat the cooking process by boiling the puddings in the same way for another hour or so.

You can serve the puddings with the traditional creme anglaise or a festively flavoured semifreddo. Either are fine; but I must say, I love a good creme anglaise with a splash of brandy.

Enjoy,
M.Wag