Creative pudding recipes please!!

October 21, 2008 6:39 AM

My home made banana pudding has received rave reviews from a tough crowd. As a cook's reputation is only as good as the last meal served, I'm now looking for other pudding recipes.

Banana's are very plentiful now in London's East End street markets, and I've been slowly working my way through a variety of recipes incorporating them (e.g., breads, muffins, cakes, stewed bananas, etc). I've recently cooked up a wonderfully tasty banana pudding using a slightly modified version of my GrandMaw's recipe, and was curious what other fruits would be amenable to ending up in a pudding.

I especially like the frugality of being able to use overly ripe fruit that others might not purchase. I was thinking berries (e.g, raspberries, strawberries) but I'm looking for different ideas. And, of course, if anyone's got a recipe that is, of course, welcome. My GrandMaw's banana pudding recipe follows:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white flour
• 3 cups low fat milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons melted butter (I've been using Olive Oil without a prob)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 overly ripe bananas
• 3 ripe but firm bananas
• Whipped cream for topping (I've been making my own )
• Mint to top the whipped cream topping

Mix well salt, flour, sugar. Add milk slowly, whisking all the time. Put in a double cooker on top of briskly boiling water. Cook stirring constantly for about fifteen minutes. Mixture will be slightly thick at that point.

While milk mix is cooking in a second bowl whisk eggs yolks then add vanilla and butter (olive oil). Firmly and completely mash three overly ripe bananas into the egg yolk mix, then add six tablespoons of the heated milk mixture. Mix well, then pour entire egg / banana mix into the double boiler stirring rapidly. Keep whisking until very thick, between an additional fifteen to thirty minutes depending upon your cooker. Turn off gas and let cool for ten minutes while on the cooker.

Slice remaining three bananas into separate serving dishes, then spoon pudding mix over the top. Cover each bowl and chill at least four hours before serving. Right before serving whisk up the whipped cream (or pop the aerosol), then top the pudding adding mint to the whipped cream.

Makes three large bowls of pudding. Can easily be divided doubled into six smaller bowls, and if you do so then increase sugar slightly and use six mashed bananas. I calculate this pudding at about 40 pence per serving, direct costs.

posted by Mutant to food & drink (10 comments total)

Persimmon and Cinnamon Pudding

6 very ripe hachiya (Asian) persimmons
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a baking dish, about 9 by 13 inches. Cut the persimmons in half and run them through a food mill into a bowl. Add the sugar and eggs to the pulp. Add the milk and stir until combined.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and add the milk/persimmon mixture. Whisk until combined. Whisk in the heavy cream and melted butter and pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Bake until dark brown, 55-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean.

3. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
posted by netbros at 6:52 AM on October 21, 2008

Lemon Pudding with Blackberry Coulis

1 teaspoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
1 cup water
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
3 large eggs, separated
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup black blackberry coulis (see below)
1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 2 teaspoons sugar
confectioner's sugar

for the blackberry coulis:

1. Combine 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries, 1 cup water, 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over high heat. Cook, stirring, for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for about 15 minutes.

2. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times, then puree. Strain to remove any blackberry seeds.

for the lemon pudding:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl combine the flour and 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Mix well. Add the melted butter, lemon juice, lemon zest, and the 3 beaten egg yolks. Stir in the buttermilk.

3. Beat the 3 egg whites with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until stiff, and gently fold into the first mixture. Pour into the loaf pan, place the pan in a water bath (a larger baking dish with about an inch of hot water), and bake until brown on top and puffed above the rim of the loaf pan ... about an hour.

4. Serve warm or at room temperature. To serve, spoon the pudding onto plates, add 2 tablespoon of the blackberry coulis around the pudding, and top with whipped cream and confectioner's sugar.

5. Enjoy! Then give yourself a round of applause for a job well done.
posted by netbros at 7:09 AM on October 21, 2008

Persimmon pudding from Bobby Flay and Lemon pudding from Emeril Lagasse.
posted by netbros at 7:18 AM on October 21, 2008

You could most likely throw chopped bananas into a bread and butter pudding (there are lots of things you can throw in).

Quick easy dessert using berries:

Crush pack of Amaretti, stir in four or five tablespoons of strong coffee.
Pulp berries.
Mix together mascarpone, some single cream and flavourings of choice (vanilla works nicely, so do lots of other things).

Into individual serving bowls: push a bottom layer of the biscuit mix, followed by a layer of fruit pulp, top off with a layer of the cream mix. Decorate top to your liking (shaved chocolate, individual berries, whatever takes your fancy). Place in fridge to chill for a couple of hours before serving.

Takes about 10 minutes to make half a dozen individual ramekin-sized desserts.
posted by mandal at 7:29 AM on October 21, 2008

mmm, you sound like a great cook! Banana pudding, WANT!

Pear and Walnut Gingerbread Pudding.

Pear pudding. Pumpkin pudding pie.

Not everybody knows this. You probably do already but bananas freeze nicely, without the peel on and then can be put into the blender as a smoothie ingredient or as part of a banana sauce or used in cooking. Same can be done with all almost-going-off fruit, sliced and frozen.
posted by nickyskye at 8:51 AM on October 21, 2008

Related: one of my favorite desserts to make is a five spice and ginger crème brûlée. It works with any brûlée recipe; all you do is simmer 2 T of minced raw garlic and 1 tsp of five spice powder with your milk. Before you pour the mix into your ramekins, strain it to remove any leftover solids.

Other great flavors that work well for this: fresh lavender and honey (knock the sugar back about 3 T for this one, just so the sweet doesn't overwhelm); Earl Grey; and saffron.
posted by shiu mai baby at 10:29 AM on October 21, 2008

And yes, a tiny part of my reason for posting the above was so I could bust out with the diacriticals.
posted by shiu mai baby at 12:15 PM on October 21, 2008

I recommend making clafoutis. Very easy, delicious and although traditionally made with cherries, works well almost any fruit.

(and shiu mai baby: did you mean to use raw garlic in your creme brulee above? Nice diacriticals btw :) )
posted by Miss Otis' Egrets at 2:51 PM on October 21, 2008

Oh hell, good catch, Miss Otis. That should definitely have been 2 T of minced raw ginger. NOT garlic. Although I did have a savory garlic custard once at a restaurant that was phenomenal. My one attempt at recreating it? Not so phenomenal. Feh.
posted by shiu mai baby at 4:04 PM on October 21, 2008

Wonderful, many thanks for the recipes guys - I'm gonna start to slaving over my cooker and surprise Mrs Mutant with something completely different to close this evenings dinner.

nickyskye -- next time we're in New York we'll drop by for a visit with some MetaFilter blue cheesecake.

shiu mai baby -- I just had to say although I realise it's a typo I love garlic and just might try it without ginger. I appreciated the diacriticals as well!
posted by Mutant at 6:55 AM on October 22, 2008