Queen of Puddings

Great British Baking Show: “The Beginnings” (Netflix), Season 5 (PBS)                                                   –A.K.A. The Great British Bake Off Series 3

Episode 6:                                                                                                                                                         Technical Challenge– Queen of Puddings

 

Queen of Puddings is a traditional British dessert. The base is a custard thickened with breadcrumbs. On top of the custard is a layer of raspberry jam and then covered with meringue. The bakers on the show used Mary Berry’s recipe for the technical, so I did too. It really wasn’t too difficult to make. Jam and meringue are both relatively straight forward and I’ve already made them before. This type of custard with breadcrumbs, I haven’t made before and I wasn’t sure how it would come out, but it also proved to be quick and easy. The only thing I need to work on is knowing when a custard is set and ready to come out of the oven. I thought I had quite a big jiggle in the middle that wouldn’t seem to go away and I didn’t want to over cook it, so I took it out. After letting it cool, the custard was fine, so I guess I guessed right! 

Mary and Paul judged the Queen of Puddings by the crispness of the meringue, the presentation with nice crisp layers (no jam bleeding into the custard), and of course the taste. My jam bled through a little, but my meringue was nice and crispy on top and marshmallowy underneath and it tasted delicious, so I think I did a pretty good job. 

The custard is the first thing to start with so I measured my milk, butter, lemon zest and sugar into a skillet and warmed it up until all of it was dissolved. I whisked my egg yolks in a separate bowl and poured the warm milk mixture into the yolks while whisking. While the milk was warming up, I prepped my dish with some butter and laid out my breadcrumbs evenly on the bottom. The milk yolk mixture was then poured into the dish and I had to let it sit for 15 minutes so the breadcrumbs could absorb the mixture a bit. My dish had to go into a larger oven safe pot/container, so I used my large cast iron skillet. Then I had to fill it half way with hot water and put the whole thing in the oven. This is called a cooking it in a bain-marie, or water bath, which I have done before with other custards.   

While the custard was cooking, I started working on my raspberry jam. I put the raspberries into a pot and smushed them up a bit, then let them start to heat up. Once their juices started coming out, I added in the sugar and mixed it in. I did less sugar than Mary’s recipe called for, although I didn’t exactly measure out the raspberries either. It was kind of a guessing game, since I don’t currently have a measuring scale, but it worked out fine. I let my jam cook until I felt it start to thicken and then took it off the heat and let it cool. 

After my jam and custard were cool enough, I started on the meringue. I beat the egg whites until they started to foam, then added in my sugar one spoonful at a time. You have to do it this way so the sugar has enough time to dissolve into the egg whites. If it’s poured all in at once, the meringue will be grainy. I was careful this time not to over beat it, because over beating can cause it to collapse in the oven. Once I had stiff peaks I was ready to assemble my Queen of Puddings. 

I spread the jam onto the custard in a nice even layer. Then I piped the meringue onto the top. I wasn’t too happy with the way my meringue looked, so I ended up just smoothing it all out on top. It could have been piped prettier, but I can always work on that! So I didn’t get a ten on presentation this time. After I assembled it, it had to go back into the oven (no baine-marie this time) until the meringue was golden on top. 

When I cracked into it and had a slice, I tasted the marshmallowy meringue, the smooth custard and a yummy raspberry flavor. The custard has a super light lemony taste. I only did half a lemon’s worth of zest, when Mary’s recipe called for a whole lemon, so if you want more of a boost of lemon flavor, add more zest. Overall, this quick yummy dessert, just might be a keeper!

Adapted from Mary Berry’s Recipe.

Ingredients:

Custard

• 1 c. full-fat coconut milk
• 1 c. almond milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• zest from half a lemon
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 c. breadcrumbs (about two slices of white sandwich bread)

Jam

• 1 1/2 6oz. packages of raspberries
• 1/2 c. sugar
• Optional: 1 tbsp cornstarch

Meringue

• 3/4 c. sugar
• 3 egg whites

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and grease a glass pie dish. Put bread slices in food processor and beat until crumbs are an even size, then put into greased pie dish. In a large skillet, combine milks, butter, lemon zest, and sugar and warm on low heat until sugar dissolves. While that is warming, whisk egg yolks in medium sized bowl. When it’s ready, pour milk mixture into egg yolks while whisking. Then pour custard into pie dish with breadcrumbs. Let sit for 15 minutes to allow breadcrumbs to absorb. 
2. Put the pie dish in a large skillet or roasting dish and fill with hot water so it goes half way up pie dish. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes, until custard sets. Take out of oven and then out of the water bath and let cool.
3. In a small pot or skillet, smush raspberries and heat on medium heat. Once juices start to flow out, mix in sugar and bring to a simmer. Cook until the jam starts to noticeably thicken. You can put the optional cornstarch in by dissolving the starch in some of the raspberry juices first, then pouring in. This will aid with the thickening. Once it thickens, take off heat and let cool.
4. Beat egg whites in a large stand mixer on high until they start to foam. Then add sugar one spoonful at a time. Continue to beat until the whites form stiff peaks. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down and they won’t come out. Put meringue into piping bag. 
5. Spread jam onto custard in an even layer, then pipe meringue on top. Lower oven heat to 300°F and bake for another 25-30 minutes (no water bath) until meringue is golden on top. 

 

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