Posts tagged custard

Malva Pudding

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Malva Pudding

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his cheeky African delight was introduced to me over Easter. And I’ll openly admit it was a surprising delight and one that I instantly fell in love with. Not just because our version was soaked in brandy.

Significant to many a South African upbringing I’m told, I’m still unsure if brandy should be your choice of liquid for your soaking sauce. I was persuaded otherwise and failed to argue the point. After a brief research it didn’t seem out of the question but I’m led to believe a more water/sherry/orange juice based option is popular. However…I encourage brandy. And I encourage brandy in this dessert.

Malva is the equivalent of the English sticky toffee pudding except sticky toffee is significantly sweeter and made with dates. This moist, dense, almost caramelised texture is amazingly moreish. Once the seemingly normal sponge mixture has baked, commitment and speed are needed to lather the hot baked cake in a rich creamy sauce to the point where its almost swimming in liquid. Patience is then required to let this soak thoughtfully through the many layers. What you’re left with is a warm, dense, moist and gorgeously decadent pudding. Unlike sticky toffee (which I avoid on most occasions), this doesn’t come with a sickly sugary sauce. But don’t be fooled. It needs custard…and plenty of it. Malva swimming in custard would not be a crime.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

Cake

  • 30g unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • 125ml milk
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 2 free range eggs
  • 1tbsp apricot jam
  • 190g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Pinch salt
  • Custard, to serve

Sauce

  • 250ml double cream
  • 115g unsalted butter
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 125ml brandy
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C Grease a large baking dish.
  2. Sift the flour and bicarb together with a pinch of salt and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, using an electric whisker if you have one, whisk the sugar and eggs on a high speed for a few minutes until pale and fluffy.
  4. Mix in the apricot jam and vinegar.
  5. Add the melted butter
  6. Add a third of the flour and fold into the egg mixture.
  7. Add a third of the milk and fold this in too.
  8. Continue alternating between flour and milk until you have a well mixed batter.
  9. Pour into your baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
  10. When you have up to 10 minutes left on your baking, prepare the sauce.
  11. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted. Keep warm.
  12. As soon as the sponge has baked, remove from the oven and pierce all over with a skewer, particularly around the edges.
  13. Pour your hot sauce over the top gently at first allowing it to seep through and then add all of the mixture. It may seem like a lot but don’t panic. It will seep in eventually and be delicious. Leave to rest and absorb for about 20 minutes or ideally pop back in the oven with the heat off and let sit until ready to serve.

Serve warm liberally bathed in hot custard! This is also perfect to reheat if there should by miracle be leftovers.

Blackberry and Ginger Pudding

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Blackberry and Ginger Pudding

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T

his is one of the tastiest but easiest little puddings to knock up and its packed full of flavour and perfect for a winter evening with a steaming bowl of velvety sweet custard. Ambrosia obviously. But if you’re feeling the urge to make a your own creme angliase then my cinnamon version found here is great. Its not a steamed pudding as such but it may as well be with its warm spongy texture and comfort. I’ll admit the ginger is excessive but don’t be shy, you’ll appreciate the bounty if you go all in here – its a ginger pudding after all. A little lemon zest lifts it into a lighter pudding and the blackberries are just so god damn seasonal. And a nod to the ‘forage’.

This recipe if straight from Sky Gyngell’s ‘A Year in my Kitchen’ and I made no changes. Its perfect.

Serves 4

  • 100g unsalted butter
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g self raising flour
  • Zest 2 lemons
  • 4 knobs of stem ginger, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp golden syrup
  • Blackberries
  • Pinch salt
  1. Grease 4 mini pudding moulds or ramekins. I also lined the base with a little parchment to stop it sticking. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy and smooth.
  3. Beat in the eggs one by one until combined
  4. Next sift in the flour and fold in.
  5. Fold in the lemon zest and ginger.
  6. Spoon a generous tbsp of golden syrup into the base of each pudding bowl. Top with enough blackberries to cover the base in a single layer. Spoon over the sponge mixture divided between each mould.
  7. Grease 4 small sheets of foil and cover the moulds loosely with it. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean.
  8. Turn out onto a plate and serve warm with a steaming helping of custard.

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Gooseberry Cobbler

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Gooseberry Cobbler

I

 feel ashamed to call this cooking. Assembling if you like. It must be one of the easiest puddings out there – hearty and warming. It doesn’t have a chance against a crumble I’ll be the first to admit but lets just say its the crumbles foreign not so pretty and less intelligent cousin. With a sad tinge of Autumnal chill to the weather this weekend and being the first day of October my expectations of an endless Indian Summer were dampened metaphorically and literally after ending up a little wet at work.

A few weeks back I returned home to my Wiltshire bolt and origins of the real pantry to a bounty of delicious homegrown gooseberries! Picked from the allotment and waiting patiently for my greedy hands! So cobbler it was….adapted from Delia Smith.

Serves 4

  • 500g gooseberries
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp elderflower cordial
  • 225g plain flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 110g cold, cubed butter
  • 170ml buttermilk
  • Pinch salt
  • Demerara sugar
  • Ice cream/custard to serve. Or my cinnamon creme anglaise
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  2. Start by placing the gooseberries in a baking dish and scatter over the caster sugar and cordial evenly.
  3. To make the topping, place the flour, baking powder, salt and cubed butter in a food processor and blend together until you have a breadcrumb like consistency. Then at this stage add the buttermilk and pulse until you get a sticky dough.
  4. Rustically distribute large tablespoons of the topping over the gooseberries making sure you cover the majority of the fruit.
  5. Sprinkle over some crunchy demerara sugar and bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until the topping if golden, cooked and the fruit is bubbling up underneath.
  6. Serve warm with custard or ice cream. My cinnamon creme anglaise is recommended –  see here for full recipe

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Blueberry and Lemon Friands with Cinnamon Creme Anglaise

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Blueberry and Lemon Friands with Cinnamon Creme Anglaise

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I’ve been wanting to make these frainds for ages! They are little ‘cakes’ that are make with egg whites and are therefore light and airy and often seen occupying the deli counters in Australia. They are a similar to financiers if you’ve ever had one but without the brown butter. In addition, I couldn’t resist making an accompanying creme anglaise with the 3 spare egg yolks!

Frainds (serve 6)

  • 100g unsalted butter, melted
  • 125g icing sugar
  • 25g plain flour
  • 85g ground almonds
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1 lemon, zest
  • 65g blueberries
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and grease a 6 spaced muffin tin or 6 friand moulds with plenty of butter.
  2. Sieve the flour and icing sugar into a bowl and mix in ground almonds and lemon zest.
  3. In another large clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy but by no means are you looking for a meringue-like soft peak. Just mix by hand or with an electric beater until airy and foamy.
  4. Fold in the dry ingredients followed by the melted butter until incorporated.
  5. Spoon into the greased muffin mould and top with a handful of blueberries.
  6. Bake for 15-17 minutes until cooked and firm to touch with a lovely golden crust. Leave to cool in the tins before removing and dusting with icing sugar. Serve with ice cream, a coffee or my cinnamon creme anglaise!

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Creme Anglaise

  • 6 egg yolks (3 from your friands)
  • 65g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
  • 500ml whole milk
  • 1-2 vanilla pods
  1. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
  2. Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla and add them and the pod to a saucepan with the milk. Heat until just about to simmer and then remove from the heat.
  3. Whisk the yolks and then gently and slowly pour over the warm milk in a steady stream while continuing to whisk until all is added. Return the mixture to the saucepan and place on a very low heat. Stir continually with a wooden spoon to cook and thicken the custard making sure the heat stays low so it doesn’t scramble the egg.
  4. Continue to heat until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
  5. Strain through a sieve into a jug and serve.This could also be cooled and churned in an ice cream maker for a lovely cinnamon ice cream!

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Portuguese Cinnamon Tarts with Lavender Caramel

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Portuguese Cinnamon Tarts with Lavender Caramel

 

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These have been adapted from Jamie Oliver’s interpretation of the Portuguese custard tart or- ‘Pastel de nata’. It seemed like a good way of using up a slab of puff pastry and an egg whilst keeping my mind sane and grounded during all this revision…

  • ½ block puff pastry (about 250g ish)
  • Pinch cinnamon
  • 1 egg
  • 120g creme fraiche
  • Zest of 1/2  lemon
  • 5 tbsp caster sugar
  • Seeds from ½ vanilla pod/ a splash of vanilla extract
  • Small pinch of lavender flowers
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Roll out the pastry into a rectangle, about 1 pound coin thickness and about 25cm long. Scatter with the cinnamon and roll into a swiss roll shape down the long side.
  2. Cut into 6 rounds (they should look like uncooked danish pastries) and then liberally press each into a a non-stick or greased muffin tin pushing the pastry down in the middle and up the sides, squashing it to mould it into the tin. Bake for about 10 minutes until just going golden. You may need to use the end of a rolling pin or something round to press the middle down if it puffs up while cooking.
  3. Make the filling by mixing the beaten egg, creme fraiche, 1tbsp of the caster sugar, lemon zest and vanilla in a bowl.
  4. When the pastry seems to have cooked enough pour in the filling and cook for another 10 minutes or so until set with a slight wobble. Remove from the oven and quickly make the caramel.
  5. Melt the meaning sugar in a dry frying pan until beginning to melt. As soon as it begins to turn golden and liquidy, remove from the heat, add a scatter of lavender flowers and then quickly pour or spoon generously over the top of the tarts before the caramel becomes to hard. Allow to cool and harden.

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