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Posts Tagged ‘custard’

Vegetable Cake… Would Julia Like It?

Posted in Bake, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 13, 2011| 36 Comments »

Vegetable Cake with carrots, broccoli and mushrooms

Vegetable Cake with carrots, broccoli and mushrooms

Dinner parties hosted by my family are a curious thing.  I grew up with a Mom who prepared for them with the same enthusiasm that sportsmen would train for the Olympics.  She would spend weeks planning and revising elaborate menus with no less than six or seven courses to be served.  Because we had a restaurant, it was easy for her to borrow some of the cooks to help out.  She would set up “stations” at different areas of the house.  One time there could be a grilling section where steaks were cooked to order for the guests.  Another station could be the carving station where she would serve maybe a suckling pig, or  a turkey and a ham.  Inevitably, the night would also end with a post-dinner commentary among ourselves about how the dinner went.  The assessment would go at length about whether the guests enjoyed the food, who went back for seconds (or thirds), who wore what, and god forbid, who didn’t show up when they said they would.  Then the wrap-up would end with a critique on what could be improved on for the next party.

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Coconut Custard (Kaya Jam)

Posted in Cook, Thermomix, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 16, 2010| 40 Comments »

Coconut Custard Jam

Coconut Custard Jam on toast with butter

“Are you trying to kill me?” My husband asked as I put a plate infront of him.

“Ha!  Not yet.” I told him.  “I have get some life insurance on you first!”

The reason for his outburst was because infront of him was this toast, slathered with a caramelized coconut custard and a considerable amount of sliced butter.  I had been finding ways to use up my twenty egg yolks from my last macaron class and had started with making pasta with six egg yolks.  Then I made some portuguese custard tarts (another four there) and used up six to make some ice cream.  All this time my husband was the lucky recipient of all the egg yolk laden dishes.

So down to four egg yolks I decided to make some Coconut Custard (Kaya Jam).  I learned about a recipe from Amy Beh which I had seen floating around the internet and was keen to try.  I must confess that I used the thermomix to make this as I have no patience to continuously stir for more than an hour which is what the recipe requires.  I used the first two egg yolks for the first test batch where I followed Amy’s recipe but thought the resulting custard wasn’t caramelized enough for my liking.  The next batch I caramelized the sugar and poured hot coconut milk into the caramel creating a darker and richer base for the custard.  The result was what I was hoping for – my husband enjoyed it and mentioned that it tasted like latik which is a  highly addictive Filipino fried coconut milk curd.

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Mango Natilla for Kulinarya Cooking Club

Posted in El Comedor, kulinarya cooking club, tagged , , , , , , , on September 19, 2010| 55 Comments »

Mango Natilla

Mango Natilla

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but growing up, I certainly enjoyed the many perks of my family owning a Spanish restaurant.  Probably top of the list was being able to order anything I wanted from the menu.  With each visit I’d try to order a different dish  for my main course but dessert would always stay the same.

I’d always have the Natilla. I loved the look burnt sugar topping provoking me to give it a good hard crack and then my spoon surrendering to the velvety custard and sponge finger mix beneath.

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Bread Pudding 101

Posted in Cook, tagged , , on August 4, 2009| 7 Comments »

Basic Bread & Butter Pudding

Basic Bread & Butter Pudding


Update: 25 September 2009 – I’m looking for your thoughts on the next bread and butter pudding:


Minimum effort with maximum results… that’s exactly what this bread pudding is all about.

While bread pudding started as a frugal dish which was a good way to use up stale bread, this has evolved into a pretty deluxe dessert – this version (which I have adapted from Gary Rhodes, New British Classics) is almost creme brulee like in texture and a decadent end to a winter meal.

The recipe also reheats well, if you are lucky to have leftovers, 15 to 20 seconds in the microwave will do the trick!

1 Loaf Brioche, cut into about 18 slices and crust removed
6 yolks
175 g caster sugar
300 ml cream
250 ml milk
1 vanilla bean, scraped
80g salted butter – soft
25g sultanas
4 pieces pitted dates, sliced

Place egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale. Mix the milk, cream and vanilla bean in a pot and bring the mixture to a simmer. Pour a fourth of the scalded milk into the egg yolk mixture and whisk. Pour the rest of the mixture on to the egg yolk mixture and whisk continuously. strain through a fine mesh strainer. Set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, butter the brioche slices and cover the bottom of an over proof dish (I used a 9 inch round cake dish) with a third of the bread. Sprinkle half of the sultanas and half of the pitted dates. Add another third of the brioche and then top again with the rest of the sultanas and dates. Finally, top with the rest of the buttered brioche.

Pour half of the custard mixture and let rest for 30 minutes. Then pour the rest of the custard mixture and let soak for at least 1 hour. When ready to use, pre-heat your oven to 130c and bake the pudding in a bain marie for 45 minutes. To serve, sprinkle with more caster sugar and torch to caramelize the top.

Serve with vanilla ice cream while the pudding is still warm.


P.S. Special thank you to Lita, one of the BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS in the PHILIPPINES for the photo and photo tips!

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