Be My Guest – Steamed Bread Pudding with Caramel

PinJust like I was excited about last month’s guest post, the same level of excitement follows for this month too! It feels lovely to get a “yes” from bloggers who have been doing this for longer years than you. It shows how humble they are in their attitude and quite explains their success too. 🙂

 

Julie’s blog is also one among the earlier ones I followed while I started blogging. I love how she starts her posts. They start off very innocently.  She doesn’t share so much about herself but whatever she does, you can sense a humble and down-to-earth person being behind the blog. I eagerly wait for her recipes and go through them, since most of them are very “naadan” (country style) recipes and I keep pinning up most of her recipes! Hehe… Some of the recipes I really love on her blog are Ragi Ela Ada, Banana Almond Meal Muffins, Ulli Theeyal, Bezawada Biriyani, and of course, her Baked Cutlets – I think if I go on, I may copy paste her own blog here! 😉 Do check out all her Kerala snacks, I bet you won’t be able to stop drooling. In between, she had taken a break of a year and a half during her transition of staying in the US to settling with her children back to India, and I must say I really missed her blogging during that time. Thankfully, she is back with a bang and posting quite regularly this year.

 

I have been wanting to approach her for a guest post since long and I really don’t know what stopped me from not asking her earlier! A message to her and an instant “yes” later, she sent in the post as quickly as she could. As soon as I saw her recipe, I was wondering whether it was the same one that I had posted on the blog eons back, but no, it isn’t. Mine is an eggless version, and the one she has shared is a version with eggs and the texture looks so close to that of a caramel pudding! Without taking too much of time, let’s go off to her lovely post… 🙂

 

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It’s truly said, ” Its the friends we meet along the way that helps us appreciate the journey.” I am really blessed to have some good friends here in this virtual world of blogging. One such good friend is Rafee @ The Big Sweet Tooth. I love her blog and her writings which are very frank and open. Love reading her comments in my space as well(very detailed commenting which makes it stand out always). It was a pleasant surprise when she invited me to her space as a guest and I happily consented, feeling happy. Thanks Rafee for the constant love and support that you shower on my space, keep them coming. Rafee is a busy working mom with two lovely kids. Inspite of her busy working schedule and managing home, I really wonder how she finds time for her space so much. She recently posted her 1000th post (big numbers,ryt??) so you can imagine her love and dedication to her page. Her space has a wide collection of Malabar recipes and Emirati cuisine. I have bookmarked a few recipes from her space like Baseema(Egyptian Coconut Cake), Special Ghee Rice, Athisaya Pathiri to name a few and there are much more to what I have said.

 

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I am Julie and my blog is “Erivum Puliyum“. Erivum Puliyum is a Malayalam word meaning ‘ spice and sour’ which are my favorite flavors. The main focus of my space is to bring out all the hidden(forgotten) healthy recipes of Kerala that our great grand parents created and that have been extinguishing over the time. The birth of this blog was just to share my experiments in kitchen when I stayed in US (where I had lot of free time to explore my culinary skills).I am a stay-at-home mom to my sons, enjoy making new dishes to my little ones, love to see their ‘yummy’ expressions that heals away all my tires in kitchen. I currently reside in Kerala with my family, who always encourage me with their critics and suggestions on each recipe that I share on Erivum Puliyum. The recipes are all taste tested by my family. Gradually, I also have developed my baking skills (I was a novice in baking except for the my mom’s Kerala Plum cake and few other recipes) and have shared my experiences. I love to share my joy of this guest post with all and so here am today with a sweet steamed treat- Bread Pudding (with Caramel). Thanks Rafee for the wonderful opportunity to showcase me and my space in your lovely blog.

 

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Coming back to today’s post, let’s celebrate the day with a delicious soft pudding. This pudding was in my do list since long until recently when I tried my hands on it. A simple to make pudding that you can put together in a jiffy. No much expertize needed to try and the ingredient list is very short, all available items in the pantry. Adding the caramel layer is strictly optional and does definitely add flavor to the pudding. This pudding reminded me of the Salted Caramel Cheese cakes that I posted long back. There are many versions of this pudding but to me this worked fine that I jotted long time back in my pinned collections. The only thing I would correct next time I preapare again is to avoid adding raisins as it hinders the neat cutting of the pudding. Enjoy making it for a quick fix dessert and am sure all will love this, my family loved it !!

The Big Sweet Tooth definitely receives an added sweetness to relish in the form of this steamed bread pudding( Bread Pudding with Caramel), Isn’t it Rafee ?? he he.. Let’s move towards the ingredients,the recipe and the step by step pics to make the pudding.Hope you all will enjoy making this at home.

 

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Preparation time~ 15 minutes

Steaming time ~ 40-45 minutes

Serves ~ 8 small servings

 

Ingredients

 

bread slices 2 or 2.5 slices

milk 1 cup

eggs 2

vanilla essence 2 tsp

condensed milk 1/4 cup

*sugar 2 tbsp

nutmeg powder 1/8 tsp(optional)

cashews 1 tbsp

raisins 1tbsp

ghee 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp(greasing)

for caramel 

sugar 3 tbsp (1/3 cup)

water 2 tsp

accessories

aluminium foil to cover

steel plate or bowl

 

Method

 

• Slice the bread slices and crush the bread in a mixer jar by pulsing it twice in a blender. Add the milk to the powdered bread. Leave aside for 15 minutes.
• In the mean time,add the eggs in the same mixer jar and add in the sugar. Blend it very nicely until the mix turns pale and fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract.
• Pour this egg- vanilla mixture into the bread mix. Add in the condensed milk and give a quick mix.
• Finally add grated nutmeg or powdered. Mix well.
• In the meantime, grease a bowl or small plate with ghee. Keep aside.
• Heat 1tsp ghee in a pan and add the raisins followed by cashews. Fry them until golden brown and pour over the bread mixture. Give a quick stir.

 

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• In the same pan, lower flame and add in the sugar for caramelize. It starts to brown from the sides and gets golden color. Add few tbsps of water very slowly in the sides and mix well(be careful not to get burns when you pour the water so be slow and steady). Switch off flame and leave to cool.
• Pour the caramelized sugar in the bottom of the pan. Then pour in the bread mixture.
• Cover the bowl or plate with aluminium foil and prick few holes in the center (this prevents water from over dribbling into the pudding and the holes helps to get the pudding cook very well.
• Place this in a steamer or pressure cooker with enough water. Place the plate on a raised surface from water so that water doesn’t seep in the pudding.
• Put the flame on high for the initial 5 minutes and then lower flame to medium high.Steam cook for 40-45 minutes (Start checking from 35 minutes as it tends to harden up if its overdone, mine was done at 40 minutes. The cook time also depends on the type of plate or bowl you use for cooking like if the pudding is poured in a shallow plate then it may take much lesser time to cook.)
• How to check if done? Insert a tooth pick/ skewer or knife in the center of the pudding and if it comes out clean then its ready.
• Switch off flame and leave to cool for an hour on a wire rack. Then, chill it in the refrigerator for two hours before inverting.
• Slide a knife through the sides of the pudding and invert on a plate. Yummy pudding is ready to serve, add more caramel if you wish !!

 

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NOTES

* You can bake this pudding in the oven at 375 degrees F or 190 degrees C for 45-50 minutes.

* Taste check the batter before pouring in for baking. Add sugar as per your sweet tooth.

* Caramelizing is again an optional step. Leave out if you don’t like it. The pudding still tastes delicious.

* Adding nuts and raisins is optional and I feel its better to avoid raisins as it hinders the neat cutting of the pudding. Nuts can be added of your choice and it definitely adds a nice crunch in between.

* You can omit adding the nutmeg powder but it definitely helps remove the eggy flavors. Though vanilla essence helps to a great extent but I feel nutmegs adds that magic.

* I have not removed the crust or the sides of the bread. But if you want to get a off white color,its better to remove the crust and in that case use 2.5 slices of bread.

* The bread mixture is like a dosa batter and don’t worry about the outcome looking at the mix. The pudding sets once its steam cooked.

 

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Thank you so much Julie for gracing my little space… It was a real pleasure to have you around here!

 

Hope you enjoyed the wiggly pudding, have a great weekend ahead!