WINTER PUDDINGS

“What’s for pudding?” This was always the question asked before we sat down to dinner as children. And while we don’t have pudding every night, there is something nice about ending a meal, often on the weekends, with something sweet. For these recipes I have taken inspiration from in season winter fruit.

LEMON, RHUBARB AND COCONUT CAKE

This cheesecake-like dessert was an instant hit for family Sunday night dinner, so there were no complaints when I had to test it a few more times! Warning, it is big, rich and sweet, which is probably why it was a hit. The tartness of the lemon and rhubarb add a little balance, so if replacing the rhubarb with any other fruit, keep this in mind. Tamarillos work, as would frozen raspberries.

175g butter, softened

1 cup icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

9 eggs

2 cups desiccated coconut

1½ cups flour

2x 395g tins sweetened condensed milk

1 cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 24cm tin and line the bottom and sides with baking paper.

Cream butter, icing sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add one egg and beat until well combined. Fold through coconut and flour until combined.

Press mixture firmly into prepared tin. Bake for 20 minutes in centre of oven. Then allow to cool.

Whisk together the condensed milk, lemon juice and remaining eight eggs then pour over the cooled, cooked base. Add dollops of the rhubarb puree then run a spoon through these to make swirls. Bake at 160°C for a further 35–45 minutes until set.

RHUBARB PUREE

2 cups of chopped rhubarb (around 6 stalks)

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp water

Place all ingredients in a small pot and simmer over a low heat for 10–15 minutes or until the rhubarb has broken down into a puree.

Chocolate And Orange Bread And Butter Pudding

Bread and butter puddings have turned rather fancy of late. While rich brioche or croissants do make a delicious pud, there is something to be said for the simplicity of the pudding’s origins and using an inexpensive loaf of white bread, especially for a simple weeknight pudding that screams comfort food.

25g butter, softened

8–10 slices of bread, crusts removed

3 free range eggs

1 cup full fat milk

¼ cup brown sugar zest of a large orange

½

–¾ cup dark chocolate, chopped

Using some of the butter, grease a small oven-proof dish (approx. 1–1.5 litre in capacity).

Butter each slice of bread and then cut in half on the diagonal to create large triangle pieces.

Layer half these in the dish, sprinkle with the chocolate and then top with the remaining slices of buttered bread.

Whisk eggs, milk, brown sugar and orange zest together and then pour over the bread. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before baking at 180°C for around 25 minutes. The top should be golden but the pudding should still be a little squidgy (that’s a technical term!).

Ginger Loaf With Pear And Butterscotch Sauce

In combination this is a wonderful dessert, but there is nothing stopping you slicing a piece of ginger loaf for afternoon tea or pouring the butterscotch sauce over good old vanilla ice cream.

125g butter

¾ cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time, then fold in the dry ingredients. Bake in a greased 24 x 13 cm loaf tin for 20–30 minutes at 180°C.

GINGER POACHED PEARS

2–4 pears

8–10 cm piece of fresh ginger

1 cup sugar

2 cups water

Peel, halve and core the pears. Roughly chop the ginger and place in a saucepan along with the pears, sugar and water. Cover with a cartouche, which is a fancy name for a lid made from baking paper. No need to go to too much trouble here, simply tear off a piece of baking paper, scrunch it into a ball then unfold enough to fit inside the pot. This will keep the pears from popping up above the water and keep some of the steam in.

Simmer the pears until tender. This will take between 10–20 minutes depending on your pears and how firm they were to begin with. Allow the pears to cool in the syrup.

BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE

50g butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup cream

Place all three ingredients in a saucepan. Heat and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring until it becomes a thick, caramel sauce.