Tuesday 11 February 2014

Peach & Raspberry Meringue Pudding (Queen of Puddings)



 Sometimes I go overboard, like way overboard, like I'm pretty sure I've lost every ounce of logic overboard. I'm one of those people that latches onto an idea and then overthinks every aspect. I decided I'd like to sew, within a week I've accrued a new sewing machine, a chair to sew in, a whole array of different sewing tools that look like medieval torture instruments and I am currently on my third full load of washing of newly attained fabric. I've gathered up everything I could think of that I might need. I over invest so that I force myself to stick with it. Surely my desperate need to make my room less than half-filled with fabric will result in some amazing sewing accomplishments. Surely..


In a similar over-enthusiastic mood I purchased a butt load of fruit. As in, my prep counter is covered in bananas, pluots (apricot x plum), pears, nashis, peaches, apricots, passionfruit and more. The original thought was "I'd like to bake with some fruit this week" a few days later a box of perfectly ripe seasonal fruit arrived from The Leaf Store (more about them later). I'd wandered through their website aimlessly selecting produce, planning recipes gleefully, and quickly lost sight of the enormous fruit pile I was creating. What I'd thought would be a relatively reasonable amount of fruit turned out to be enough to feed my family on fruit alone for a week. Probably should've factored in my visit to the farmer's market a mere 2 days beforehand where I'd also stocked up on fruit. Whoops!


So here we are, this the first recipe of what will undoubtedly be a week long fruit bake-athon. I've selected a pretty little number from one of my copies of Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine. It's a truly simple recipe that looks a bit fancy and tastes wonderful. It's not overly sweet, which really lets the fruit's flavour shine through. There's an array of flavours (lemon, peach and raspberry) and textures that really tantalise the taste buds. It starts with a layer of custard & bread pudding, then a layer of raspberry jam, followed by fresh peach slices and finally topped with a chewy, marshmallowy meringue.


Below I've typed up the original recipe and noted a couple of changes I made along the way. It's a versatile recipe, you could swap out the peach for any stone fruit of choice. Next time I think I'd throw in some crystalized ginger too. Also, please excuse the slight blackening of the meringue, I'm easily distracted.





Peach & Raspberry Meringue Pudding
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes (plus 10 minutes for soaking)
Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients
  • 600ml warm milk
  • 50g butter, coarsely chopped
  • 150g fine fresh chopped breadcrumbs
  • 80g caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (*I used seeds of one vanilla bean and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract*)
  • finely grated rind of 1 lemon
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 250g raspberry jam (*use home-made or very good quality*)
  • 650g yellow peaches, halved, stones removed and cut into wedges (*I finely sliced 3 large, white peaches and it was lovely*)

    Cooking Directions
    1. Preheat oven to 180C. Stir warm milk and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until almost boiling, transfer to a bowl with breadcrumbs, 25gm sugar, vanilla and lemon rind and set aside to soak (10 minutes). 
    2. Whisk egg yolks into breadcrumb mixture, pour into a buttered 1.5-litre baking dish, bake until just set (20-25 minutes), spread with jam and scatter with peach wedges. 
    3. Whisk egg white and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (2-3 minutes), then, whisking continuously, gradually add remaining sugar and whisk until stiff and glossy (2-3 minutes). Spoon in peaks over peaches and bake until golden brown (12-15 minutes). Serve hot.

    17 comments:

    1. It looks lovely and delicious.

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    2. What a unique combination of flavors! I love peaches and raspberries and bringing them together in one recipe is a brilliant idea! Pinned :D

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      1. Thank you! The tartness of the raspberries is the prefect accompaniment for super ripe peaches. :)

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    3. This looks amazing! I can't wait for peaches to be in season here - I adore desserts made with them.

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      1. Thanks Maggie! I sometimes think I only know what month of the year it is because of whatever fruit's in season. :)

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    4. Wow, that looks totally decadent and so beautiful. Fresh fruit desserts are absolutely the best.

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      1. I agree, I know quite a few people who abhor fruit in desserts, which just blows my mind. Utter madness! :)

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    5. You are SO preaching to the choir on this. I do the same thing only sometimes I don't follow through. At the time I MUST have it. So I do have a sewing machine and a table and an overlocker and the bits that do embroidery and quilting. Have I made a quilt? not yet. or anything else for that matter. Ugh, I think I need a bowl of this pudding, it looks magical.

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      1. Oh Maureen, I really should've clarified that I too have only had limited success with this approach. I still haven't made anything either! Today was meant to be my "sewing day", it's 3pm and here I am, sewing-less. I got stuck on the whole "iron all the fabric" step. I'm sorry, but there is just nothing enjoyable about ironing. Wow, you bought an overlocker too. If it's only the thought that counts, I'd say you've done very well! :D

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    6. Hehe I get obsessed or obsessive over things too! And yes this summer I've been guilty of overbuying fruit too! :D This looks wonderful!

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      1. So glad I'm not alone in the madness. See, at least with overbuying fruit, it's beneficial for your health (well, unless you do what I did and bake it all). Not so beneficial when it comes to the six blocks of chocolate I have sitting in my cupboard.

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    7. Wow, what a combination of ingredients! I also have a tendency to buy a huge amount of fruits..but at least these went to good use :)

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      1. Hey Cathleen! The ingredients all compliment each other so well, it's a really well balanced dessert. Maybe us food bloggers need to invest in some co-op fruit orchards!

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    8. This is utter insanity - and I love everything about it! And I'll admit, I get the same way...

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      1. Thanks Heather! It really is worth making and surprisingly quick and easy to put together. The obsessive trait seems to be something firmly ingrained in the food blogging community!

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    9. bookmarked!!, I really like your website!

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