Warm Day and Night Pudding
Barbara Illmaier’s wonderful puddings should win a stuffed fuzzy teddy bear for “best comfort food.” Rich vanilla pudding comes to the table in the mason jars in which it was cooked in a warm water bath. Accompaniments are a ramekin of bittersweet chocolate “pudding,” more like a mousse, and another ramekin of rasperry coulis. The presentation could not be more simple: three small paper doilies on a small platter, with one of the three elements -- vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, and coulis -- set on each.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter - 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons
- All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup, sifted
- Milk - 2 cups
- Sugar - 1/2 cup
- Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
- Vanilla - 1 teaspoon
- Egg Yolks - 14
- Egg Whites - 8
- Sugar - 1 tablespoon
- Bittersweet Chocolate - 16 ounces, chopped
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 2 cups, beaten to firm peaks
- Raspberry Coulis - 3 cups (crushed, strained raspberries)
Instructions
In a deep bowl or on a work surface, knead the flour and butter together to form a dough. Bring the milk to a boil in a large heavy saucepan. Whisk in the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Stir in the flour-butter mixture, whisking constantly and moving the pan on and off the heat to keep the mixture from scorching. When the mixture hass blended and thickened to the consistency of a light pancake batter, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Whisk in the egg yolks one at a time.
In a clean deep bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar until firm peaks form. Add a large spoonful of the beaten whites to the yolk mixture and gently fold together. Fold the remaining whites into the mixture.
Brush the inside of 12 mason jars with butter. Put a spoonful of sugar in each jar, put on the lids, and shake or rotate each jar so that all sides and the cover are coated with the sugar. Dump out any remaining sugar. Fill mason jars half full of the pudding mixture and put the lids on. Place the jars in a large deep baking pan with high sides. Heat water to a low boil. Pour the water around the mason jars to cover completely up the sides. Let them stand in the water for 30 minutes. Lift the jars from the water bath, dry with a towel, and open carefully; a vacuum will have formed.
Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Fold into the whipped cream and place in ramekins.
To serve; Place 3 small doilies on each serving plate. Place one opened mason jar on a doily on each plate. Place one chocolate ramekin on another doily on each plate. Fill ramekins with raspberry coulis and place on each remaining doily.
