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Baked Lemon Meringue Pudding

Baked Lemon Meringue Pudding

by | Aug 29, 2021 | 0 comments

lemon meringue pudding

This magical lemon meringue pudding has a filling that splits into two layers – a luscious tangy curd at the bottom and a light, fluffy sponge at the top. Coupled with the crisp meringue topping and buttery coconut biscuits at the bottom, it’s a warm version of our favourite lemon meringue pie for a chilly night!

lemon meringue pudding

LEMON MERINGUE PUDDING

Originally created for Essentials Magazine

Serves 6

 

100g Tennis biscuits, crushed

220g + 110g Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar

finely grated zest of 1 large lemon

6 eggs, separated

90g butter, melted

70g cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

300ml coconut milk

125ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

 

Preheat the oven to 180C conventional or 160C fan-forced. Butter a 25cm pudding bowl or casserole dish with butter. Sprinkle the crushed Tennis biscuits in the bottom. In a mixing bowl, rub 220g of the sugar and the lemon zest together with your fingertips to release the oils from the zest – it should be very fragrant. Add the egg yolks and beat with an electric whisk until light and creamy. Add the melted butter, sifted cake flour and baking powder to form a batter then mix in the coconut milk and lemon juice. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form then gradually add the remaining 110g caster sugar to form a glossy meringue. Place half the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Divide the rest of the meringue into two – whisk half into the lemon curd mixture then fold the rest in gently. Pour into the prepared dish, pipe the meringue on top in rosettes and place inside a larger roasting tin. Fill the roasting tin with boiling water so it comes halfway up the sides of the dish then bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the top just sets – it should wiggle slightly. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly then serve warm.

lemon meringue pudding

 

 

Caramelised White Chocolate Lava Puddings

Caramelised White Chocolate Lava Puddings

by | Apr 24, 2019 | 5 comments

Chocolate fondant, meet your match! Because while we are all fans of you, it’s only because, until now, we had not been introduced to your sexier, rich cousin, the caramelised white chocolate version! And man oh man is this good. You will never go back to the dark chocolate version again! And no it’s not because I have a mild obsession with caramelised white chocolate – which I totally do – I’ve made hot chocolate with it, drizzled it over cakes, and that’s only if I’m not eating is straight as-is. But there’s a reason this pud featured in last month’s Essentials Magazine – because I need to shout the recipe from the roof tops! Btw, from now until December, I’ll be taking over a page of their magazine each month to do a Kate Bakes series so make sure to get the mag each month for a sweet fix!

Unlike conventional lava puddings, this salted caramel version has a nugget of the golden white chocolate inside which takes the guess work out of overbaking them – because there is nothing more disappointing than digging into a lava pudding without the lava! So bake up a batch of these for friends (or just yourself) and put the ‘win’ in winter!

Caremelised White Chocolate Lava Puddings

Makes 6

 

80g cream

150g Natura Sugars Golden Caster Sugar + 20g extra

100g salted butter

4 large eggs, lightly whisked

40g cake flour

 

Caramelized White Chocolate Truffle Filling

200g The Kate Tin White Baking Chocolate, chopped

2 tbsp vegetable oil

55g cream, heated

pinch of sea salt flakes

 

To make the caramelized white chocolate centre’s: arrange the broken up white chocolate on a baking sheet and drizzle with the oil. Place in an oven preheated to 150C for 40-50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until it reaches a rich caramel colour. If the chocolate is lumpy, simply blend it in a food processor or pass it through a sieve. If it’s too thick, add a little more oil until it reaches melted chocolate consistency. Heat the cream to just below boiling point then pour over the caramelized chocolate and stir until smooth. Pour into a shallow container, sprinkle with the salt and allow to set for 1-2 hours. Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into truffles. Chill in the refrigerator to set. Prepare 6 dariole moulds by greasing them with a good coating of cooking spray. Set aside. Scald the cream by heating it to just below boiling point. Place 150g of sugar into a pan and heat gently to caramelize. One it reaches a rich golden caramel colour, add the warm cream and swirl gently to combine. Add the butter and swirl to combine then set aside to cool. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Once the caramel mixture is cold, gradually whisk in the eggs little by little. Next, add in the remaining sugar and finally whisk in the flour. Fill the prepared dariole moulds halfway with the mixture, insert one of the caramel truffles and top with more pudding mixture so the mould is filled ¾ of the way. Bake in the preheated oven for 7-8 minutes until a deep golden colour and the tops are springy – the pudding should still be a little wobbly in the middle. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 1 minute before unmoulding. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream.

 

 

 

TIP The caramelized white chocolate truffles make a delicious sweet treat on their own – roll them in toasted coconut or crushed up peanut brittle for something special!

Coconut and Lemon Curd Crumble

Coconut and Lemon Curd Crumble

by | Aug 1, 2016 | 4 comments

#SPONSORED

Some of you, will make lemonade, but me? When life gives me lemons, I make PUDDING. Although, if I’m really honest with myself (and you), life didn’t give me lemons last week, I sort of, kind of, took them. My floral stylist friend Matanna would call it ‘Gorilla Foraging’ (which is, like, very trendy right now) but I know better than to dress something up and give it a fancy name. In simple words, it’s called stealing. Yes, when nobody was looking (at least I hope nobody was!), I snuck into my neighbour’s front yard and knicked a few lemons. Their tree has been groaning with citrus for the past few weeks, the ground littered with plump zingy lemons rotting away – going unused. Wasted. Every time I drive past, my heart ached with longing to save them. It just had to be done, nay, it was my duty!

So when life gave me lemons (just run with it, people!), I obviously made dessert – there is so much poetic clout in that sentence I can’t even deal. See, dessert even turns me into a poet! I adore lemons, along with butter, salt, a jar of Nutella , chocolate, and coffee, lemons are among the ingredients that are ALWAYS in my kitchen. Always. They bring so much brightness and cheer to winter – and the fact they’re packed with Vitamin C, well that just makes them (and anything they’re in) healthy.

All my favourite pudding recipes are magical and this one is no exception – it splits into two layers in the oven; a smooth, creamy, tangy, lemon curd at the bottom and a light, spongy pudding at the top. Sprinkle over some crunchy coconut crumble and you’re a scoop of ice cream away from lemon heaven. As if by some kind of sweet fate, the caster sugar that this silky smooth pud cries out for, just happens to be the same colour as it’s inspiration; Natura Golden Caster Sugar. It’s fine texture means it dissolves quickly ensuring a velvety texture, and it’s unrefined, natural bronze colour adds heaps of flavour. Just like a lemon without it’s zest, sugar with all it’s colour stripped from it, sadly, doesn’t taste like much so make sure you get the sugar with all the tasty parts still in it!

Now, excuse me while I go and fight the flu by eating this pudding.

Coconut and Lemon Curd Crumble

Recipe adapted from Curtis Stone

Serves 4

 

Coconut Crumble

110g cake flour

85g Natura Golden Caster Sugar

110g butter, melted

90g desiccated coconut

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

 

Lemon Curd Pudding

220g + 110g 85g Natura Golden Caster Sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon

4 eggs, separated

90g butter, melted

70g cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

300ml coconut milk

125ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

 

Vanilla ice cream, to serve

 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Make the crumble by combining all the ingredients together. Spread on a lined baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside to cool. To make the pudding, butter a 25cm pudding bowl or casserole dish with butter. In a mixing bowl, rub 220g of the sugar and the lemon zest together with your fingertips to release the oils from the zest – it should be very fragrant. Add the egg yolks and beat with an electric whisk until light and creamy. Add the melted butter, sifted cake flour and baking powder to form a batter then mix in the coconut milk and lemon juice. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form then gradually add the remaining 110g caster sugar to form a glossy meringue. Whisk half the meringue into the lemon curd mixture then fold the rest in gently. Pour into the prepared dish and place inside a larger roasting tin. Fill the roasting tin with boiling water so it comes halfway up the sides of the dish then bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the top just sets. Sprinkle over the coconut crumble and allow to cool in the bain marie for 5 minutes before serving with ice cream.

 

Disclaimer: This post has been created in collaboration with Natura Sugars, however, I only work with brands I think are awesome and that I actually use myself.

Self-Saucing Gooey Chocolate Marshmallow Puddings

Self-Saucing Gooey Chocolate Marshmallow Puddings

by | Jun 2, 2016 | 0 comments

CHOCOLATE PUDDING | #SPONSORED CONTENT

Chocolate pudding meets s’mores in this baked dessert that magically splits into a lightly spongy pudding with a chocolate sauce at the bottom. Self-saucing puddings are like the Harry Potter of the pudding world – it’s always so magical making them and as a kid I was always absolutely transfixed when my mom would pour hot water over the top of the pudding batter before putting it into the oven. I thought she was absolutely nuts, but then she’d tell me to wait for the magic to unfold so I’d sit in front of the oven on the kitchen floor and watch how the sauce and pudding swopped places in the oven! Now, I’m typing this and realizing that my mother probably just wanted 15 minutes to herself and me sitting in front of the oven watching a pudding rise was 15 minutes of pure heavenly silence! Hmmm.. I’m going to remember that trick one day!

Our family cookbook is filled with self-saucing puddings – there’s a ginger pud dubbed ‘Family pudding’ that’s spicy and golden and just incredible with custard! Then there’s a tropical pudding made using ideal milk as the sauce and tin of that insanely kitsch tropical fruit mix – it’s allure for me comes from the fact that we were never allowed to eat it because it was always on it’s way to my parent’s bible study group. And then there’s this chocolate pudding. The recipe is not a family one but was rather given to me by a dear friend as a gift when I turned 16. It was one of the many recipes in the now infamous ‘Katelyn’s Favouriteistest Favourite Flopproof Recipe Cookbook – Made with love by all her friends’ (SIC). It’s one of those puddings that you can crave at 8pm after dinner and be eating it by 8.30pm – because, I know you all have those moments too! You can make this as indulgent or simple as you like – add more chocolate, a shot of espresso, some caramel but whatever you do, don’t skimp on the Natura Dark Muscovado Sugar – it’s what makes this chocolate pudding so sticky and moist and gives it a deep dark flavour which takes it to a whole other level! Also, the Muscovado sugar is unrefined, Non GMO and non-irradiated which are a lot of fancy words which basically mean it’s much better for you and when it comes to chocolate pudding, I don’t need much to be persuaded into going back for seconds!

P.S. If your chocolate craving is a 911 situation and 8.30pm is too far away, this chocolate pudding can also be cooked in the microwave for 2 minutes on full-power although you won’t get that crusty top when you plunge your spoon through the gooey toasted marshmallow…

Self-Saucing Gooey Marshmallow Chocolate Puddings

Serves 4

 

100g cake flour

3 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

¼ cup (40g) Natura Dark Muscovado Sugar

3/4 cup milk

40g butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

100g The Kate Tin Dark Baking Chocolate

1 packet white marshmallows

 

Sauce:

½ cup (90g) Natura Dark Muscovado Sugar

1 tbsp The Kate Tin Cocoa Powder

1 cup boiling water

 

To make the chocolate pudding, preheat oven to 180°C (fan-forced) or 200°C (conventional). Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add the milk, butter, egg and vanilla and mix well to combine. Fold through the chopped chocolate. Spoon into 4 x 1 cup-capacity oven-proof dishes and place on a baking tray. Place the extra sugar and remaining cocoa in a bowl and mix to combine. Sprinkle over the puddings and pour over the water. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops of the chocolate puddings are firm, risen and springy but the centre should still be a bit squishy underneath then place the marshmallows on top and bake for another 3-5 minutes until golden.

TIP For Mocha pudding, simply replace the boiling water with freshly brewed coffee.

Disclaimer: This post has been created in collaboration with Natura Sugars, however, I only work with brands I think are awesome and that I actually use myself.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE THE RECIPE FOR THIS CHOCOLATE PUDDING HERE:
Sticky Toffee Pudding with Dates

Sticky Toffee Pudding with Dates

by | Jul 2, 2015 | 0 comments

There’s nothing fancy or frilly about a baked pudding. It’s plain and simple but there is something deeply satisfying and supremely indulgent about a sticky pudding complete with pools of sticky toffee sauce and of course,  a good glug of piping hot custard. Something else which always accompanies a baked pudding, is a big spoonful of nostalgia. And this one, if it’s even possible, comes with an extra dose – because the recipe is over 60 years old.
When my great aunt Gwen passed away recently, I was given a great gift; 3 large falling-apart boxes filled with her love of recipe hoarding and all sorts of vintage kitchen paraphernalia. There were pages upon pages of recipes – not in a book or file but just stacks of cuttings torn out of magazines, from the back of soup packets and old shopping lists, some even quickly jotted down on the back of a church hymn booklet. But it was amongst these droves of recipes, that I discovered a few real gems.
And this recipe is one of them.
Cape Times Newspaper – Wednesday, June 16, 1954
 Margaret Pollitt writes: ‘One of the biggest problems of winter menu-planning is how to ring the changes with the sweet course – those sturdy summer standbys, ice cream, jellies and fruit salads, are of no use now to the mother whose children crave a big helping of pudding after the main course has been polished off.’
I cropped out the advert for corsetry services in the bottom right, although, in hindsight, that advert placement was very good!

Amongst recipes for pancakes (Margaret advises budding cooks that ‘tossing pancakes only comes with experience!’- you’ve been warned.), hot orange pudding, steamed sago pudding and roly poly, a date pud caught my attention. And it would be perfection when baked in my vintage pudding bowl (side note: how beautiful is this?!)

As a child I never appreciated puddings; I wanted to be a pastry chef and the simplicity of a baked pudding was completely lost on me. I only yearned to make the complicated, intricate desserts I saw in my cheffy cookbooks and magazines. My young imagination extended so much further than a quick-mix sponge drowned in thick UltraMel custard. How times have changed. Now… it’s the very thing I crave when the weather turns wet and grim. Perhaps that’s what makes pudding so universally soothing and rich in nostalgia. The fragrance of a baking pudding takes me back to Sunday afternoon lunches where we had to endure the delicious smell all the way through lunch. Torture. Followed by sheer bliss.

1954 Sticky Toffee Date Pudding

Serves 6-8

 

250g dried, pitted dates

250ml (1 cup) hot water

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

250g cake flour

250g butter

1 tsp (5ml) baking powder

2 large eggs

100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar

100g toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped

Soaking syrup:

60g butter

1 cup sugar

11/2 cups milk

2-3 tbsp sweet sherry (optional, or add 1 tsp vanilla)

Preheat the oven to 180C, fan-forced 160C. Grease 12 small dariole moulds or ramekins or a large 26 x 16 baking dish. Place the dates in a medium bowl and pour over the hot water. Sprinkle over the bicarbonate of soda and allow to stand for 30-45 minutes or until very soft. Place the softened dates (and the water) in a food processor with the rest of the pudding ingredients (except the nuts) and blend until smooth and combined. Stir in the nuts then pour into greased individual moulds or one large dish. For small puddings, bake for 10-15 minutes and large pudding, 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. In the meantime, make the syrup; place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Keep hot. Pour the hot syrup over the puddings as soon as they come out the oven. Serve immediately with salted caramel sauce (recipe below), vanilla custard or thick cream.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Makes 500ml

 

1 (395g) tin condensed milk

250ml (1 cup) cream

3 tbsp (45ml) brown sugar (like Demerara or Muscovado)

Pinch of good-quality salt (I used local Oryx desert salt)

Place the condensed milk, cream and sugar in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring constantly until golden brown. Allow to cool, then sprinkle in the sea salt.