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

Recipe by Australian Gourmet Traveller

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.