Spiced Brown Sugar Self Saucing Pudding

When Mr B and I woke up this morning it was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining, the sky was blue and there was not a breath of wind which was in stark contrast to yesterday's cold, wet and windy weather.

We immediately began making plans for long afternoon walks in the sun, maybe a bike ride, definitely a cup of tea and lunch outside on the pergola soaking up the sunshine.

Our first stop was out to visit some friends, we curled up on their couch, drank tea, ate some of the most amazing brownies I have ever tasted, and talked and chatted and watched their little boy laugh and play....

And wouldn't you know it, by the time we left the blue sky and the sun were gone. We ran some errands and made our way home for a quick cup of tea, a crumpet drowned in butter and honey and then we rugged ourselves up in jumpers and beanies and went for a stroll in the chilly evening air.

Winter has not quite left us yet, but you know what, I don't really mind because if it's still winter, that means it's still winter dessert weather!

Last week at Mum and Dad's we had this Spiced Brown Sugar Self Saucing Pudding for dessert and I think Mum described it best when she said it was real winter food. 

This pudding has all the flavour and richness of golden syrup dumplings paired with the lightness and ease of a self saucing pudding. Serve it with a big dollop of cream and you're onto a real winner.

Spiced Brown Sugar Self Saucing Pudding - Serves 4-6
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
200g self raising flour
2 tspns allspice
125g butter, melted
1 egg
125ml milk
1/3 cup treacle
2 tbspn cornflour
1.5 cup of boiling water
Cream and Ice-Cream to serve

Pre-heat oven to 180C and lightly grease a 6-8 cup capacity baking dish.

Combine flour, allspice, butter, egg, milk, 1/3 cup of sugar and half of the treacle in a bowl and beat until smooth. Spoon into prepared dish.

Combine the remaining sugar and cornflour in a bowl and sprinkle evenly over the batter.

Combine the water and remaining treacle in a jug and gently pour over the batter.

Bake for 30-40 mins. Serve with cream and ice-cream.

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Mrs B tackles the Christmas Pudding!

So this year, due to space constraints in the caravan kitchen, Mum and Dad decided they just could not do the Christmas puddings. Yeah ok I get that, but Christmas with none of my Mum and Dad's Christmas Pudding smothered in cream for dessert?! I don't think so! This meant there was only one option, it was time I stepped up to the plate and tried to make it myself. Never mind I have never so much as helped my Mum and Dad make theirs before - the most involvement I've had is picking the peel out of the fruit mixture (honestly, who likes peel!?) and shaking the fruit while it soaks (long time family tradition, everyone shakes the fruit!).....this was going to be a massive learning experience. And reflecting back on it now, it certainly was!

It was at times very stressful, my little pot was definitely not big enough to boil a pudding in and resulted in it being raw the first time we took it out (after 9 hours of boiling!!) but then we went out and brought a proper big stock pot, boiled it for another 1.5 hours and it was good to go. I should clarify that the pudding should only take 3 hours to cook, but as I said, small pots + puddings = not cool. Anyway, we learnt from that and moved on, plus look at the end result, it looks like pudding, it smells like pudding and I just hope it tastes like pudding too!

Christmas Pudding - Makes 1

375g sultanas
150g glace cherries
150g dried cranberries
125ml brandy
1 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tspn salt
125g butter
1 tspn bicarb soda
1 lightly beaten egg
1 cup plain flour
1 cup self raising flour
1 tspn mixed spice
1/2 tspn cinnamon
Large oven bags
Brown kitchen string

In a large container, combine the sultanas, cherries and cranberries. Pour over the brandy and mix to combine. Place a lid on the container and leave in the cupboard to soak for 2 days. (At this point, we all shake the fruit container....it's good luck!)

In a large pot, combine the fruit, water, sugars, salt and butter. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8-10 mins.

Remove from heat and add bicarb soda. Mixture will begin to foam so don't panic.

Add the egg, flours and spices. Stir well to ensure everything is combined.

Now take one oven bag and cut it down the joins so it opens into a large rectangle. Place the oven bag in a large bowl so that the edges are hanging over the sides.

Spoon your pudding batter into the bowl. Bring the sides of the oven bag up and tie tightly with the string, ensuring there are no gaps for water to get in or for the pudding to expand, your bag should be water tight. Now cut open another oven bag and place the pudding into that, again bring the edges up and tie it tightly ensuring it's water tight.

In a large stock pot, place enough water to submerge your pudding (it will need to be able to float and be completely covered with water). Bring the water to the boil and place the pudding gently into the pot.

Cook with the lid on for 3 hours, turning the pudding after 2 hours. Make sure the water remains boiling constantly and replenish with more boiling water when necessary.

Once the pudding is cooked, remove from the water and allow to cool and set over night. The following day, remove from the bags and wrap tightly in cling wrap and foil. Place in the fridge until your ready to serve.

Before serving we microwave ours for 15-20 seconds (for a small slice) and serve with cream.

Did I mention how much I LOVE Christmas Pudding!? 

Last week we went to Mum and Dad's for dinner and put their Christmas tree up. Given that they are still living in the caravan there is not much for their normal tree, so this year they went with the simple (but effective!) version and I must say it was much easier and quicker to put up! 

Mrs B xx 

Cheat's Chocolate Fondant

I'm going to be honest with you here. This chocolate fondant very nearly broke me. The first night I made it, it stuck to the ramekin and fell apart....it was delicious, but it was a mess. The second night, it held together, but an awful lot of the inside seemed to ooze out and I felt it was slightly under-cooked. The third night, it held together, but upon digging into it, there was no oozing what so ever....it was over-cooked. Honest to goodness, this damn thing was so delicious, but driving me crazy at the same time!!

Mr B was completely oblivious to this. Each night I sat on the couch with my head in my hands trying to figure out how I had managed to bugger it up yet AGAIN, but each time Mr B sat there happily devouring the bowl placed in front of him. On the 3rd night when I was just about in fondant induced tears, Mr B piped up and told me that version no. 2 was his favourite and he thought I had nailed that one. Looking up between my hands from where I was curled up in the foetal position, I said "Really?" and Mr B went on to explain the ins and outs of fondants and why version no. 2 got his vote and why in his opinion, version no. 2 was what a fondant was supposed to be like. I mean it WAS a light chocolate mousse like pudding with a gooey oozey chocolate centre and it WAS down right delicious and fancy looking. So I decided to put some faith in Mr B's vast knowledge and experience with chocolate puddings and considered the recipe successful.

Here is how it's done....

To make 1 pudding you will need:

50g milk chocolate
50g butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbspn caster sugar
1/2 tbspn plain flour
1 tbspn cocoa
1 milk chocolate Lindt ball.

Pre-heat oven to 180C and brush a 1 cup capacity ramekin with melted butter. Line the base of the ramekin with baking paper.

Place the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe jug and heat on high for 40 seconds. Give the mixture a good stir until it is melted and smooth.

Use an electric mixer to beat the egg, egg yolk and sugar until thick, pale and creamy. Add the melted chocolate, flour and cocoa and beat until just smooth.

Spoon 2/3 of the mixture into your prepared ramekin. Place the Lindt ball in the centre of the mixture. Top with remaining mixture, ensuring Lindt ball is covered.

Bake for 15-20 mins or until just set. Allow the puddings to cool for 5-10 mins before inverting onto serving plates.

Serve with cream and enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Mocha Fudge Self Saucing Pudding

Mr B and I both had today off work, so when Mr B got up early to go help my Dad line his shed out, I thought about staying in bed with a book all day, but then I remembered my to-do list was kinda long. Fudge. Funnily enough I managed to get a heap of stuff done and squeezed in some serious impulse buying, a visit to Mum and won the most awesome daughter / wife ever prize for delivering fish and chips to the boys for lunch. Then I came home to discover our lambies have learnt how to escape from their pen.....well one of them has, Blossom was running around the yard crying and Loud Mouth was running around the pen crying - they really don't like being apart! Seeing as they were just as freaked out as I was so I don't think they will be doing that again, plus when I put Blossom back in the pen, Loud Mouth gave her a good head butt just to show her what he really thought! So then I came inside, hid the impulse shopping and set myself up on the couch where I could watch for escaping lambs and generally just did all the things I never seem to have time for....like putting photos in albums, Ebay shopping and writing non-rushed blog posts!

This is my Dad's recipe for Mocha Fudge Self Saucing Pudding - I remember having it when I was little and it was always such a treat. I love the way the sauce goes all thick and fudgey and glossy and I love the way it reminds me of sneaking into the fridge when I was younger to steal the gooiest, fudgiest bits off the leftover pudding. Plus on a cold rainy night there is nothing better then a bowl of this pudding with a good dollop of cream.

Mocha Fudge Self Saucing Pudding

You will need

1 cup self raising flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 tbspns cocoa + 1/3 cup extra
1/2 cup milk
70g butter, melted
1 tspn vanilla essence
.75 cup brown sugar
1.5 cups strong black coffee

Pre-heat oven to 180C

In a large bowl combine the flour, caster sugar and 2 tbspns of the cocoa.

Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla. Spoon mixture into a round casserole dish.

Combine the brown sugar with the remaining cocoa and sprinkle over the pudding batter.

Carefully pour the coffee mixture over the batter.

Bake for around 50 mins and enjoy with a view like this!

 

Mrs B xx

The King of all Desserts!

Let me just start by saying three simple things....

Gooey Chocolate Pudding....

Cheesecake..........

Creamy Chocolate Mousse....

Are we all on the same page here? I thought so.

This dessert is easy to throw together, will impress even the fussiest of guests, and is a chocolate lovers delight!!

All you need to do is whip up a Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding and when it comes out of the oven, mush it all up and allow it to cool.

For the next layer beat 250g of softened extra light cream cheese with 1/2 cup of caster sugar and 300ml of thickened cream. Pour over the cooled pudding.

For the third and final layer combine one packet of prepared chocolate mousse mix with 100ml of thickened cream and 2 tbspns chocolate sauce. Pour over the cheesecake layer.

I swirled some chocolate sauce through the top of mine and placed it in the fridge to set overnight - totally worth the wait, such a fantastic combination of flavours and just what the Doctor ordered after a very long Monday!!

On the flip side, I sold my car on the weekend, I have been trying to sell it for 9 months now, advertising in the local paper, getting up early to park it on the side of the road and wouldn't you know it, out of the blue someone comes to look at it, takes it for a cruise and pays cash for it within the hour....so lucky I got my bike license last week isn't it!!

We also picked up our tickets and final itinerary for Europe and Ireland tonight too, I can't believe this time in a fortnight we will be in Galway....totally blows my mind...also totally freaks me out - I don't do flying!

Anyway, I will fill you in on the trip more over the next few days - in the mean time, make some Triple Chocolate Pudding and enjoy yourself xx

Mrs B xx

Nutella Bread and Butter Pudding

Ok I know I said I would show you OH's spectacular chicken parmy today....but you will just have to wait till tomorrow for that because today I want to show you this....believe me you will be glad I did!

Would you believe OH and I have been together for 4 years today? 4 whole years. It seems like we have been together forever but also like no where near long enough all rolled into one :) I have been trying to spoil him a bit over the last week and one of the little treats I had up my sleeve was this Nutella Bread and Butter Pudding


And the best part is it's so easy! All you need is:

2 slices of bread
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tbspn thickened cream
1 tbspn brown sugar
1 tbspn butter
1 tbspn plus 2 tbspn extra of Nutella

Preheat oven to 160C

Spread one slice of bread with butter and one slice with nutella. Sandwich together.

Cut the sandwich into small cubes and place in a small ramekin.

In a bowl whisk the egg, milk, cream and sugar. Pour over bread mixture.

Using the remaining 2 tbpns of nutella, dot it over the top of your pudding (it might be easier if you melt it in the microwave first).

Stand for 10-15 mins.

Bake for 20-25 mins or until the bread is nice and golden and the pudding looks set.

Serve with a nice dollop of cream and enjoy!!

This recipe makes one, but it's a decent serve so grab two spoons and jump into bed with your loved one while you enjoy it!

Happy Anniversary Puddin Pop xx

Em x

Pineapple Self Saucing Pudding

It looks good doesn't it.

Granted I should have got a photo before OH attached it with cream and ice cream but you know it looks good, you know that pudding is hot and golden and delicious and you know that the first spoonful you have will be filled with light fluffy pudding, thick pineapple sauce and a hint of cream and it's just going to make you all fuzzy inside :)

So this is how it's done!

Pineapple Self Saucing Pudding
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1 tspn lemon juice
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 eggs (seperated)
2 tbspns self raising flour
1 large can of pineapple pieces drained
1 cup milk
60g butter

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the butter, sugar, lemon juice and egg yolks. Beat until thick and creamy. Slowly add in the flour, milk and coconut. Beat until combined. Stir in the pineapple.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into pineapple mixture.

Pour into an oven proof dish and bake at 160C for 40 mins or until firm.

Dust with icing sugar if desired and serve with cream.

I have never made a cake / pudding that has so little flour in it and relied pretty much on the egg whites but oh my goodness, it was so light and fluffy. The pineapple sauce was thick and delicious and the addition of coconut to the mix made this pudding a true tropical delight!

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend!

Em x

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

Ok so being Easter and all and with Mum and Dad coming out tonight, I thought I better pull out all the stops. I made some fresh Hot Cross Buns yesterday and thought they would look pretty specky as a bread and butter pudding in individual ramekins. I had images of one hot cross bun surrounded by a sea of custard....but upon putting them together, I figured it would be better to tear the buns up, so whilst not as pretty as I had planned, they taste pretty damn good!

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

4 mini Hot Cross Buns
3 eggs
375ml milk
2 tbspn caster sugar
1 tspn vanilla essence

Tear the hot cross buns up or leave whole and place in 4 small individual ramekins.

Combine the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla in a jug and whisk until combined.

Pour over buns and let soak for at least 20 mins.

Bake in the oven for around 30mins at 180C or until custard is set. Serve with cream.

I got such a suprise when I went back to the oven, I may have squealed a little, my lil bowls of mush had turned into these big (like huge!) gorgeous golden puddings!!

Would be extra yummy with choc chip hot cross buns too not to mention a perfect way to use up any left over or stale buns, but let's be honest, who ever has left over hot cross buns!?

Happy Easter everyone!!

Em x

Did someone say self saucing pudding???

No? Ok so maybe it was just me? Or maybe it's ringing in my ears and permanently embedded on my brain seeing as we have had so much of it in the last week! Winter is definetly here in Tassie so cold winters nights means self saucing puddings.

OH is stuck on the traditional chocolate fudge....


Whilst I felt the urge to try some lemon...


Chocolate Fudge Pudding

1 cup self-raising flour
1.5 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
.5 cup milk
2 tbspn butter (melted)
2 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Combine flour, half the sugar and half the cocoa in a medium bowl. Add the milk and butter and stir until well combined. This recipe should serve 8 and you can make it in a big dish if you want but for OH I make it in 4 individual ramekins coz I think there is just something about self saucing pudding in individual dishes - anyway pour the mixture into your preferred dish / ramekins.

Sift the remaining sugar and cocoa into a bowl. Sprinkle puddings with sugar mixture. Gently pour in boiling water.

Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes or until a cake-like top forms and a skewer inserted halfway into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Serve immediately - this pudding is awesome, it has a thick fudgy delicious sauce that is just heaven with good dollop of cream :)

Lemon Self Saucing Pudding

.5 cup self-raising flour
.25 cup caster sugar
.25 cup milk
1 tbspn butter (melted)
.5 tspn vanilla
1/3 cup caster sugar (extra)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup boiling water

This makes 3 good sized puddings in lil ramekins :)

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Combine first two ingredients in a bowl. Stir in the butter, milk and vanilla and pour into your prepared dish / ramekins.

Sprinkle puddings with the remaining sugar.

Combine lemon juice with boiling water and gently pour over puddings.

Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes or until a cake-like top forms and a skewer inserted halfway into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Serve with cream, ice cream, whatever you want really....although personally I love digging a little hole in the middle of my pudding and filling it with cream...mmmmmmmmmm and this pudding was so yummy, it had a beautiful thick lemon sauce and was a nice change, lovely and fresh :)

With all of these puddings keep in mind that if you make them in smaller ramekins instead of one big dish, the cooking time will be less so just keep an eye on them.

And as always, enjoy!!

Em x

Caramel Bread and Butter Pudding

You know secretly I think OH is enjoying this whole 'I'll make you whatever you want for dessert to make up for me having pudding' thing because last weekend when I asked him, instead of the standard 'i dunno' he said 'oh well I had a look in the recipe folder and (pause while he rifles round in the kitchen cupboard looking for the recipe folder - wtf - I didn't even know he knew we had recipe folders let alone where they were!) I wouldn't mind trying this Caramel Bread and Butter Pudding.' Several seconds later my jaw and my mouth re-connected and I said something along the lines of 'oh well yes very well then I haven't made one before that would be good' and kind of quietly babbled to myself while I took the folder back to the kitchen to review the recipe! Now I have always wanted to make a bread and butter pudding and have oodles of recipes for different varieties but given I have never tried one I was unsure of the textures and consistencies and was a big ol' scaredy cat really. But this one looked pretty simple so why the hell not!

Caramel Bread and Butter Pudding

3/4 cup brown sugar
80g butter plus extra for spreading
300ml thickened cream
2 cups milk
4 eggs
3/4 loaf of white bread (crusts removed)
Maple syrup

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced.

Place brown sugar, cream and butter in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until melted and smooth. At this stage is tastes spectacular...resist the urge to eat it all....Set aside to cool completely - preferably in a different room to avoid temptation...

Meanwhile spread one side of each slice of bread with butter. Cut in half diagonally and arrange, overlapping, in a greased dish. Try and arrange them so they look pretty but are kind of well packed in there.

Whisk milk and eggs together in a jug and then add to caramel. Mix well. Pour over bread and if you have time, set aside for 15 mins to absorb.

Place dish in a large baking dish. Pour boiling water into baking dish until halfway up side of smaller dish. Bake for 50 minutes or until golden and just set. Cool for 10 minutes.

Drizzle with maple syrup when fresh out of the oven.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream :)


Really not that hard to make and to be honest I had no idea how it would come out, but it was delicious, the custard set beautifully and the bread had soaked up so much flavour and was crispy and golden on top. Massive fan of this one and will be trying some other variations in the future!!

Happy Wednesday :)

Em x

Berry Wonderful Delights!

Ok so what do you do when you buy a 1kg box of frozen berries purely because they are only $3 I hear you ask? You make some wonderful goodies with them!

Firsty, my fave brekkie over the holidays has involved chucking a handful of berries in the microwave till they are all syrupy, pouring them over a bowl of no fat yoghurt, and drizzling with maple syrup, totally delicious and filling!

But then, as previous mentioned, I got to thinking about OH and his no pudding eating dilema....seeing as he ate all the ice cream I made, could I really sit there and let him watch me eat dessert all week? Probably not...well I could, but it would definetly lower my enjoyment of the whole thing, so I decided to make a new twist on one of his favourite desserts. I covered the base of a baking dish with the frozen berries, drizzled them with maple syrup (yes I am going through a maple syrup phase...) and poured over a prepared butter cake mix. Chucked it in the oven for about 40 mins and there you have it, Berry and Maple Pudding...oh it smelt and looked delicious!


And this morning, seeing as tomorrow is our last day of holidays, we thought we should get our act together and try our brand spanking new waffle maker (thanks Mum and Dad!!). So I sent OH out to pick some raspberries from behind our shed (I know - who knew we had raspberry canes!!) and I made the waffle batter. The batters in the instruction book were all about seperating this and beating that and blah blah blah, who wants to do that on a Sunday morning? Instead I made this recipe which makes 4 large waffles.

1 1/3 cups self raising flour
2 tspns baking powder
2 tbspns sugar
2 eggs
1 tspn vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine egg, vanilla and milk and add to mix. It will make a fairly thick mixture so don't be alarmed like I was at first!

Then you just pre heat your waffle maker and spoon it in, as it's a thick mixture, I just put a big blob in the middle and try and spread it out as best as possible, but remember it will spread out on its own.


So this morning we had them with fresh raspberries, maple syrup (I really must see someone about this....) and a dollop of light cream (I never knew they had light dollop cream either, I'm so behind!) and they were delicious! It's going to be very hard to go back to frozen raspberries and store brought ones because the fresh ones are just heaven!

Just a few quick and easy ways to make some berry-licious treats!!

Em x