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PUDDING!!! Can you believe I used to hate this kind of pudding? Actually, I’ve hated puddings in general. In America, when we say pudding, we tend to think of the soft, squishy, creamy stuff. It’s not very solid, more moussey, but heavy. In the UK I think pudding refers to desserts of any kind. What didn’t I like about it, you might ask? Well, the home-made pudding I’d tried was too eggy for me. As you may or may not know, I hate eggs, so this was a problem for young Emily.
In Japan, pudding typically refers to a flan-like custard. Solid, jiggly, with a layer of liquid caramelized sugar at the top. I’d tried something in similar in America and hated it-I think whoever made it had gotten the texture all wrong. It was grainy and eggy and GROSS. When I lived in Spain, I tried it again and was a bit more excited, but not really passionate about the dessert. Then, when I was traveling in Japan this summer, I found this kind of pudding in the convenience stores, and LOVED it. I don’t know if it was the convenient packaging, the yummy burnt-sweet perfection of the caramel, or the tiny spoon I got to eat it with, but I had it for breakfast every morning along with a Pizza-man and cherry tomatoes. I know, I know- my dining habits are the very picture of health.
Anyway, when I came across this pudding in WWW.WORKING!! I knew I had to give it a go. I hadn’t had a pudding like this since Japan, and the recipe didn’t look that hard. This show is about a boy who gets a job in a restaurant to cover his expenses after being cut off by his dad, and typically shenanigans ensue. This pudding is ordered by a customer, and the picture of the pudding was sooooo yummy looking, I decided there and then to make it my mission to master this type of pudding.
Along the way I actually ran into a few problems that I didn’t address in the video for time’s sake. When you make this, you have to make the caramelized layer first. The process is really easy- put sugar and water in a pan, and let it get all golden brown. However, during my first attempt I burnt it, and during my second and third attempt, I accidentally re-cryztalized the caramel. Here is how to avoid those problems:
1) When you see the caramel is a uniform light-golden color, remove from the heat IMMEDIATELY. It will continue to cook in the pot.
2) To prevent carmel from re-crystalizing, wipe down the edges of the pan with water to brush any sugar crystals back into the pot. Basically, if you melt the sugar and then put a non-melted sugar crystal into the pan, it’ll start a chemical reaction that will make the sugar un-melt, essentially. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the gist of the thing.
3) Be very careful. Caremelized sugar is VERY HOT.
Check out the video down below for the process! A list of ingredients is below the video.
Ingredients
Caramelized Sugar Top
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp water
Pudding Base
2 cups whole milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
fruit/ berries (optional)
To Make:
1. Put sugar and water in a pan over medium heat. Don’t stir- just let it heat up until it begins to caramelize, turning a nice golden color (about 5-8 minutes, maybe longer depending on the heat you’re using). Once done, remove from heat and pour into the bottoms of your pudding cups.
2. Whisk together eggs and sugar in a bowl.
3. Heat milk over the stove until just begining to simmer. (Called scalding the milk.)
4. Add milk, one ladle’s worth at a time to the egg mixture. Whisk through thoroughly before adding more milk. Repeat until all milk is added in.
5. Stir in vanilla.
6. Strain out any lumps.
7. Pour custard into pudding cups on top of hardened caramel.
8. Place pudding cups in a baking dish, and fill up with the dish with water so it comes about 3/4 cup the sides of the pudding cups. DO NOT fill the pudding cups with water, just the baking dish you place them in.
9. Bake in oven at 350 F until the puddings are set, and just a little jiggly in the center. about 40-45 minutes.
10. Refrigerate overnight. To release from cups, run a knife around the edges of the pudding and then tip out.
I hope you enjoyed this post! Check in next week for another recipe. To check out more anime food recipes, visit my blog for more anime and manga themed food. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below! I recently got a twitter, so you can follow me at @yumpenguinsnack if you would like, and DEFINITELY feel free to send me food requests! My tumblr is yumpenguinsnacks.tumblr.com. Find me on Youtube for more video tutorials! Enjoy the food, and if you decide to recreate this dish, show me pics! 😀