Queen of Puddings

This pudding was made to celebrate a small milestone that I achieved in blogging. This is my 100th cooking post! ~WoW~ When I started blogging… I never thought I’d be able to maintain it for more than a few months. But MariasMenu.com is now more than a year old and am still blogging. I’d like to say a “BIG THANK YOU” to my husband (who inspired me to start this), my family & friends (and blogging friends) and ESPECIALLY my main motivator… YOU, my readers, for your unending support and encouragement.

Speeches apart… now let’s start cooking :)

This is a simple & easy to make pudding. The base is mostly bread pudding and the topping is meringue. You can stop with the base if you like it that way. So here is the recipe for the Queen of Puddings.

1. Fresh white bread crumbs - 75gm, 3 pieces approx
   Granulated sugar - 25gm
2. Full cream milk - 450 ml
   Butter - 25 gm
   Grated rind of 1 lemon
3. Eggs - 2 medium, separated
4. vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
5. Seedless raspberry jam - 2 tbsp
6. Caster sugar - 50 gm

Preheat the oven to 170 degree/325 F. Oil a 900 ml/ 1 1/1 pint baking dish. and reserve. Mix the breadcrumbs and sugar together in a bowl. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and heat gently with the butter and lemon rind until the butter has melted. Add the vanilla essence & stir well. Allow the mixture to cool a little, then pour over the breadcrumbs. Stir well and leave to saok for 30 minutes.Whisk the egg yolks into the cooled breadcrumb mixture and pour into the prepared dish. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until firm and set. Remove from the oven. ( If you don’t want topping, you can stop at this stage. Once the pudding is cooled, keep in fridge and serve cold)

Allow to cool slightly, then spread the jam over the pudding. whisk the egg whites until stiff and standing in peaks. Gently fold in the caster sugar with a metal spoon. Pile the meringue over the top of the pudding. Return the dish to the oven for a further 20 -25 minutes, or until the meringue is crisp and just slightly colored. Serve hot or cold.

Happy Cooking!

Notes: Be careful to use baking dish of the correct size to get the right thickness for the base.
Recipe source: Everyday Cookery, Baking

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