One person’s pudding is another’s creamy cake. Cake with warm pudding-sauce oozing over the top, making pudgy puddles down the sides.
Or pudding could be a spongy steamed dish full of fruit or chocolate and formed in a mold–wading in a pool of rich custard sauce.
Warm pudding cakes, steamed puddings and bread puddings–they’re perfect desserts for cold weather, comfort foods to warm our tums and taste buds.
Forget the packages. They have their uses, but for now let’s talk warm and decadent. Old-fashioned pudding desserts for blustery days. And hearty appetites.
– Pudding cakes: They separate into two distinct layers when baked. The pudding sinks to the bottom, but forms a gooey layer on top of the puffy cake when it’s inverted for serving.
Recipes for pudding cakes date to Colonial times. Citrus flavors, such as lemon and orange, are classic. But chocolate is moist and delectable too.
– Steamed puddings: They have a moist, almost solid texture similar to dense cake–but better. For a long time steamed persimmon pudding was my favorite. Then Betty Beanston of Irvine sent her favorite recipe to The Orange County Register: Beanston’s steamed chocolate pudding is ambrosial. Chocolate silk.
Steamed puddings are made in a mold or a heatproof bowl (or dish) covered with parchment paper secured with string or a rubber band and topped with aluminum foil.
– Bread puddings: They are made with slices or cubes of bread and a mixture of eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and spices. And sometimes dried fruit or candied citrus peel. Maybe some toasted nuts.
It’s an all-American dish that has become de rigueur for trendy chefs. Although they’re made around the country, the most popular variety seems to be Louisiana-style bread puddings with bourbon sauce. To vary the flavor, you can substitute rum.
BROWNIE PUDDING CAKE
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
This recipe is adapted from “America’s Kitchen” by Anthony Dias Blue (Turner Publishing Inc., 1995).
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon each: baking powder, salt
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons ( 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups boiling water
3/4 cup golden brown sugar, packed
Optional for serving: vanilla or coffee ice cream
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, sift flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. Beat sugar, butter, cream, eggs and vanilla in large bowl of electric mixer until blended. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Spread batter evenly in an ungreased, 8-inch baking pan; set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk remaining 1/3 cup cocoa powder, boiling water and brown sugar; pour over batter.
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out with crumbs adhering to it, about 35 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla or coffee ice cream, if desired. Coffee ice cream with chocolate chips is delicious with this pudding cake.
Advance preparation: Pudding cakes can be served at room temperature or chilled, but warm is best.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories……….396 Fat……….17 g Cholesterol……….97 mg
Sodium………336 mg
BREAD PUDDING WITH DRIED CHERRIES AND BOURBON SAUCE
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Yield: 8 servings
This recipe is adapted from “Simply Elegant,” by Food and Wine Books (American Express Publishing Corp., New York, 1995).
1/2 cup dried cherries
6 tablespoons bourbon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 day-old French baguette (about 16 inches long), cut into 1/4-inch slices
3 cups milk
1 cup whipping cream
6 eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 2 tablespoons sugar
Optional bourbon sauce:
5 large eggs
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
5 tablespoons bourbon
1. Place cherries and 6 tablespoons bourbon in a small microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Carefully remove plastic, directing steam away from you. Cool.
2. Scatter cherries over bottom of a 3-quart shallow baking dish or gratin pan. Butter 1 side of bread slices, using all 4 tablespoons of butter. Overlap them, buttered-side up, in two layers on top of the cherries.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring water to a simmer for the water bath. In a medium saucepan, bring milk and cream to just a simmer. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour hot milk mixture in a thin stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Strain mixture over bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
4. Place baking dish in a roasting pan and pour enough of the simmering water to reach about halfway up the sides of dish. Carefully transfer to upper half of the oven. Bake until pudding is set, about 35 minutes. Remove pudding from water and cool till warm or room temperature. Serve pudding warm or at room temperature accompanied with room temperature bourbon sauce, if using.
Bourbon sauce: In a large bowl, whisk eggs. In a medium saucepan, melt butter with brown sugar over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until warm. Add bourbon and continue heating until hot but not simmering. Whisk hot syrup into eggs. Pour mixture back into saucepan and heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until hot but not simmering, about 1 minute. Do not simmer, or sauce will curdle (if this happens process in food processor fitted with metal blade and strain with a fine strainer). Strain and cool. Skim any foam from surface.
Advance preparation: The sauce can be made 2 days in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving. You can make the pudding up to 4 hours in advance and keep it at room temperature until ready to serve. You can refrigerate it and keep it longer, but the top won’t remain crisp.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories……….844 Fat……….42 g Cholesterol……….446 mg
Sodium………662 mg
LEMON PUDDING CAKE
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
This recipe is adapted from the January 1995 issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine.
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 to 3 teaspoons grated lemon rind (colored part only)
1/4 cup strained fresh lemon juice
1 cup milk
4 large egg whites, room temperature
Optional garnish: sprigs of fresh mint, fresh raspberries
1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking pan or 6 ( 3/4-cup) custard cups or 4 (1-cup) souffle cups. Place a folded dish towel in bottom of roasting pan and set cups or pan inside. Bring 2-3 quarts of water to a boil in a separate pan.
2. Meanwhile, in mixing bowl, mash 2 tablespoons butter with sugar and salt; mix until crumbly. Beat in yolks, then flour, mixing until smooth. Slowly beat in lemon rind and juice, then stir in milk. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff and glossy in large bowl of electric mixer. Gently fold egg whites into batter, just until no large lumps of egg whites remain.
3. Immediately ladle (don’t pour) batter into pan or custard cups. Set baking pan or cups on oven rack. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the pan or custard cups. Bake until pudding cake center is set and springs back when gently touched, about 25 minutes. Remove roasting pan from oven and let pan or cups stand in water bath for 10 minutes. Can be served warm, at room temperature or chilled. Serve inverted on serving plates. If desired, garnish with a few fresh raspberries and sprigs of fresh mint.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories……….202 Fat……….9 g Cholesterol……….124 mg
Sodium………142 mg
