One person's pudding is another's creamy cake. Cake with warm pudding-sauce oozing over the top, making pudgy puddles down the sides. Chocolate-on-chocolate. Or lemon-on-lemon.
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.
Or a bready custard, crisp on top and creamy on the bottom with plump raisins or cherries drifting between layers of bread and milk-sugar-egg-custard, bourbon sauce forming a luscious mahogany-colored veneer across the top.
Warm pudding cakes, steamed puddings and bread puddings -- they're perfect desserts for cold weather, comfort foods to warm our tums and taste buds.
Unfortunately, for most of us pudding means those small boxes stocked next to the Jell-O at the supermarket. Some need stirring and cooking. Others are the no-nonsense stir and eat variety.
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.
Depending on your preference and equipment, you can either make one large version in an 8-inch-square baking pan, or make individual portions in custard or souffle cups. Devour them at room temperature or chilled, but warm is definitely best.
Steamed puddings:
They have a moist, almost solid texture similar to dense cake -- but better.
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. You can use equipment that is specifically designed for steaming puddings, such as a pudding mold -- a deep cylindrical mold with a lid that attaches with small metal clips -- or a glazed earthenware bowl called a pudding basin. They're available at cookware shops. But I've found that Bundt pans and ovenproof glass bowls work too.
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 for bourbon.
Beanston's steamed chocolate pudding
Makes 6 servings
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg, unbeaten
1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
CUSTARD SAUCE:
3 cups milk
8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup cold whipping cream
alternate topping: whipped cream
I usually double the recipe. If you have leftover pudding, it can be steamed to reheat it, about 30 minutes. Or cover with plastic wrap and reheat it in the microwave on medium power; times will vary depending on the amount you're reheating. A quick substitute for Custard Sauce is to melt a rich vanilla ice cream, such as Haagen-Dazs, stir it and use as sauce.
Turn on oven to 300 degrees. Generously grease a 3-cup ovenproof mold or steamed-pudding mold with a tight-fitting lid.
Combine shortening, salt, soda and vanilla; stir until blended. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat thoroughly. Add chocolate and blend. Add flour alternately with milk, beating after each addition, until smooth.
Pour into mold and cover tightly with lid, or cover with a piece of parchment paper secured with a string or rubber band and cover with aluminum foil. Place mold in a pan that is larger than the mold. Pour in simmering water, so it comes halfway up the side of the mold. Cover with foil. Carefully place in oven for 1 1/2 hours. Add more hot water as necessary to maintain level. Remove pudding from water and allow to cool for 1 hour.
For sauce, bring 3 cups milk to a boil in a heavy-bottomed large saucepan, on medium-high heat; cover and set aside. In a large bowl or bowl of an electric mixer, beat yolks, sugar and vanilla until thick and pale yellow. Slowly beat hot milk into yolk mixture. Pour into saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Test by sliding your finger across the back of a wooden spoon -- the mixture should not run back together immediately but should leave a trail for a few seconds. Do not overcook or the eggs will set. Remove from heat and stir in cold cream. Strain through a fine sieve and refrigerate, well sealed.
Invert pudding on serving plate. Pour a puddle of custard sauce on individual plates or shallow bowls and place warm pudding on top.
