Plum rice pudding with granulated oatmeal plum topping

            Yesterday it hit me. Something changed - the air is different. You know - it is just beginning of an August, but I really can say that the summer is over now. Yeah, we will probably have few hot, hot days in August too, but it's not the same. 

You may feel sad, but me - no way. I love end of the summer/first few weeks of autumn. It's still warm, but not hot. The air is fresh, not only in mornings, but through entire days. The light is very cozy and nice - golden, everything looks better, nicer, warmer. Plus the best fruits are coming - apples, plums, pears. Oh can't wait (and do not even ask me how i love early autumn fashion - my fav period in the fashion year ^_^)

Rice pudding with plums and with oatmeal-plum topping

(one individual serving)

Pudding:

2 tablespoon of white rice

full fat milk (you can also mix regular milk with coconut one)

pinch of salt

2 tablespoon of sugar

5-6 small plums

white pepper

Topping:

2 tablespoon of granulated oatmeal (I take the plum one to add more plum taste to the pudding)

2 tablespoon of cold butter

2 tablespoon of brown sugar

1 tablespoon of flour

1/2teaspoon of cinnamon

Preheat oven 180C/360F.

Place a rice and milk (for start you will need about 200 ml) in a pan with heavy bottom. Cook it until rice will be al dente. Add more milk while cooking if it necessary.

Mix your creamy rice with sugar and nicely chopped plums, add white pepper to taste. You can also add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup.

Make the topping - mix flour, oatmeal(crush it if the chunks are too big),brown sugar and cinnamon. Add cold butter and mix quickly. If it will be too soft you may place it in fridge for 10 minutes. Place your pudding in a small, individual form (mine was about 3 inches). Top the oatmeal mixture over the pudding. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until topping will be brown and crispy.

Ohhh the sound when you crush the hard topping with a spoon and you find creamy, soft center...

April's Daring Bakers Challenge - Steamed Puddings

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet

                 I must admit that I was scared. This was my first challenge, plus it was something very traditional process-making wise (not baking, but steaming). Also the fact that recipe recommend using suet was scary enough. 

Suet is specific kind of fat - usually beef or mutton fat, hard one placed around loins and kidneys.It has low melting point so that's why, hard in solid form, it's great alternative for butter. Especially if we are making puddings.

Yes - the puddings. I have some issues with, what you can call, traditional British kitchen. If we left all those greats, post-imperial and post-immigrants kitchens, we face quite heavy and simple dishes. But don't get me wrong - i love simple kitchen, but usually for me it means Tuscany kind not fish-and-chips one. Oh well...

Puddings has very strong position in Great Brittany. They even have Pudding Club. 

                     I decided to make classic pastry with filling. And as a secret Dulche de Leche lover the choice for feeling was easy. 

See how sticky filling was ? It was a-m-a-z-i-n-g filling...

Dulche de Leche Pudding (for 4 small ramekins)


1 cup of flour (about 250 gram)
100 gram of suet (if you can't find it - replace it with butter)
3 tablespoon of caster sugar
pinch of salt
50 ml of milk (or that amount to get pastry hard enough to place into ramekins)
150 gram of condensed milk tube (sweetened one!)

Mix flour with sugar and salt. Chop with suet and add milk to get pudding dough (easy to roll and quite stiff).

Cool in fridge. 

Now time for secret - easy to make Dulche de Leche. Usually I make one with sweetened 450 gram of canned milk, boiling it in shimmering water for 1,5-2 hours (40-45 minutes for 150 gram tube). But now, since pudding will be steamed on their own for some amount of time, I had to change this process. I just

boiled it for 10 minutes, so its changed color from white to light brown. But still it wasn't Dulche. 

Divide dough into 4 ramekins (left pastry enough to make 4 tops) and place runny milk into those. Make toppings. Be sure it's closed very good - without any holes.

Place into steamer over a pan with shimmering water. Steam for about 30 minutes - check if it's ready, if not steam for another 5-7 minutes. Steaming time depends on how big your ramekins are and how thick you rolled your dough.

The verdict: i still prefer baking pastry not steaming but it was great lesson, plus i liked how easy it was and messy-free.

I like the idea so much that i made additional pudding - this time sponge one with strawberries on a top. I make little twist here by replacing 50-60 grams of flour with Azuki beans puree. Recipe here.

Leftover Pudding with dates filling

After each holiday season, people around the world are facing one big issue. What the hell to do with all those leftover food? Usually we ended up making sandwiches with cold, leftover ham and turkey, making a pan fried potatoes for evening snack with dinner potatoes, baking mac' and cheese with leftover veggies.

But when you ending up with leftover cakes your are in troubles. Of course you could take it to work and share with your co-workers or grab and visit your distant relative ("No, nothing wrong happened - i just missed you SO MUCH ! And I brought you a present - It's a cake !") but why not spending few minutes and turn your not-so-fresh from the oven-babka into gorgeous, seductive pudding? Since i had almost full bag of dried dates i decided to make the one with a filling. Sweet!

Pudding with dates filling :

some leftover babka ( you can use some sweet bread, like croissant, also) - mine was about 300 gram

cup of full-fat milk

80 grams dried dates

1 pear

2 teaspoon of butter ( for your apricot )

2 teaspoon of sugar

2-3 tablespoon of cream

butter and sugar for your tins 

Preheat oven 200C/390F

Prepare pear. Cut it in small pieces (you can take off skin if you want but i left mine). Take a pan with thick bottom and put 2 teaspoon of butter. Heat until it melt and put your chopped pear. Fry for 10-15 minutes (after first few minutes add 2 teaspoon of sugar) until it will be somewhere between soft mousse with chunky pieces and filling for tart. Cool dawn. Take a boiling water and soak your dates (you can add some rose or pear syrup if you have). Strain and mix with cooled pear. That's your filling.

Cut your babka into slices and pour with milk - you want it to be soaked but not wet completely so be careful ( it's the same method like with tiramisu and its biscuits soaked with espresso).

Take your tins - butter and sugar them. Now you take a slice and put on a bottom and take 2-3 slices to put around. Put your filling  inside and cover with last slice to make closed space. Pour your pudding tin with cream and butter. Make as many as many babka you have. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and will rinse a little.

You can also make a sauce with leftover pear mousse and heavy cream.