Belated Christmas Post

What is a christmas feast without a christmas pudding?
But what do to when your christmas season is actually 40 degree celcius, and the family is not a big fan to the rich traditional christmas pudding in this weather?! Well, a Panettone pudding is the answer. Panettone is a buttery fruit bread, that is widely available during the christmas month, the italian eat it like a fruit toast, but it can also be made into very delicious dessert like the panettone pudding. I like to invest in a good quality one from my local deli, with extra fruits and liqeur.

Christmas Panettone Pudding

Ingrediant:

• 700g panettone
• 30g unsalted butter, soften at room temperature
• 50g Apricot Jam ( or more )
• 50ml Rum
• 50ml Cointreau
• 600ml Milk
• 600ml Thincken Cream
• 4 eggs
• 125g sugar
• 100g almond flacks
• 150g red currents
• icing sugar

Method:

1. Remove the top and bottom bits of the Panettone, thickly slice the panettone, so it's about 1cm thick. You can cut the bread into any shape you like, i cut mine into triangular in shape.
2. Preheave the oven to 170 degree celcius, lightly grease a 1.5 litre oven proof dish.
3. Lightly spread jam and butter on each slice of panettone, lay slices, slightly overlapping, to fill the dish.
4. In a big jug, whisk the milk, cream, eggs, sugar and liquer together until combine. Pour the custard mixture over the panettone, until it is completly covered.
5. Let the pudding soak for at least 15 mins before put it in the oven.
6. Scatter almond flakes on top of the pudding, and bake in the preheated oven for about 30-40 mins, or until set.
7. Cool the pudding in the dish slighly, and decorated it with red current. Dusting if off with icing sugar, serve warm with store bought brandy custard.

It can also be serve cold, if the mercury is rising!!

Winter Warmer

The only good thing about winter is that we got to eat warm and hearty dessert. This pudding cake is incredibly wonderful, and it's very grown up taste. It is not sickly sweet like some pudding cake, it has got chocolate, and a slight orange bitter tang that makes it so special. It is adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to be a domestic goddess, and from the moment i read it, i just want to make this cake. I love orange and chocolate, i think the combination of the 2 is heavenly. Of course, if you dun like marmalade, you can substitute it with any other jam, like apricot. Of course, it will taste entirely different with a different jam, but it won't be too bad. Worth a try i would say!



when just came out of the oven, the tangy orange aroma of the pudding cake just make you drooling ***
and the best part, you dun have to wait for it to cool down completely, it's best serve warm, with very cold custard.





Orange Blossom Chocolate Pudding

125g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate buttons
300g thin-cut marmalade
2 tbsp orange blossom water
120g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
150g SR flour

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius
2. Grease and line a 20cm spring foam tin
3. Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water, stir it gently with a metal spatula, and remove from heat when melted. Cool slightly.
4. Add marmalade, sugar, and a good pinch of salt. Combine everything.
5. Gently add in the beaten eggs with the spatula.
6. Sieve flour over the batter, gently fold in.
7. Bake in preheat oven for about 50 minutes or until cooked. If pudding become brown too quickly in the oven, cover it with a piece of foil for the last 10 mins of baking.
8. Cool for 10 mins in the pan, remove cake, slice and serve with orange custard.

Orange custard

Sure you can make your own custard, but I'm lazy and i use store-bought pouring custard. For orange custard, just mix in 1 tbsp of orange liqueur like Cointreau. If your guess includes kids, then just leave the Cointreau and use 1 tbsp of Orange Blossom Water instead!