Rice Pudding from “Traditional Puddings” by Unknown

Yes, I know, choosing rice pudding to review a cook book is different. It is something from my childhood and memories of it can be good, bad or indifferent.

Rice Pudding is something I avoided since I left home. My father loved rice pudding but as he was a diabetic the sweetener used always made the pudding taste slightly bitter.

Rice pudding is considered old fashioned unless it is revised to include fruit, jelly, jam, meringue or avocado (for all I know). But why should be fashionable? My main interest is if it tastes good.

Harper loves rice pudding. So, as I needed to review another cookbook, this one was chosen and I deferred to Harper’s wishes (for a change).

Melting butter has become quick and easy due to microwave ovens. Measuring the sugar and rice as very simple as was warming the milk, though of course it had to be watched so it did not boil but simple enough and then stirring it to dissolve the sugar and mix with the rice was again very easy.

The most difficult part was grating half of the whole nutmeg. Next time I would grate it over a plate to make sure the distribution was a little more even.

After putting it in the oven, I confess I was distracted by something or other and was only reminded to check the pudding due to the timer chiming.

Harper was in the kitchen, awaiting the removal of the pudding and immediately claimed a serve, unadorned by any additional items and insisted I have a taste.

Unfortunatley I did not photograph the final product but it did look something like this, whithout the artistic effect of the used nutmeg grater.

I tried it and reversed my opinion of rice pudding. This recipe was good and Harper ate it happily and requested the book be retained while hinting heavily that it should be made regularly.

As the book contains a lovely and possibly simple version of a golden syrup pudding, Tate au Citron etc, I am willing to bestow it a place on the bookshelf. (By now it should be apparent, I have a sweet tooth.)

Traditional Pudding be glad that you are not expelled and do not need to attend remedial classes.

Random Recipe: Apple Pie From “Whirlpool Cookbook for Microwave Oven with Grill and Crisp” (Author Unknown)

Apologies for the many delays in updating the blog. As may be noticed it is a little more difficult at present to provide reviews of restaurants (thank you COVID 19, not) for while we have eaten some takeaways, most of them have been from restaurants we have reviewed previously e.g. Blackfire, Sammy’s, et al. which impressed us when we ate there.

I have to admit to a certain amount of laziness in testing recipes, but there is also the added fun of trying to obtain ingredients. Recently I almost did a random recipe on a mushroom lasagne but as every mushroom used was a substitute, as were a number of other ingredients, it did not seem fair. (It was a very good lasagne but was very labour intensive.)

This recipe is the opposite of labour intensive. There were apples in the fruit bowl which were nearly past their best and not wanting to waste food while Harper was hinting often that Apple Pie is a favourite), the challenge was to find a recipe which did not mean a visit to the supermarket.

(Please, not the supermarket! I’ve recently changed where I shop for food to a place which is much quieter than the larger supermarkets, but it does not always stock the things required. But it is an independent supermarket which is preferable to the big chains.)

The Recipe

Enough waffling and onto the recipe. Basically there are 3 steps:

1. Make the pastry and let it rest before rolling it out and lining the ‘Crisp” dish.

2. Peel and cut the apples and arrange them on the pastry before sprinkling with sugar and cinnamon.

3. Cook in the microwave.

Once I made pastry very often but not often recently. (However, we recently purchased a pie maker, so who can tell?) Sometimes it seems it is made weekly but there has been quite a gap of late (because flour is not always available).

The Preparation

Despite leaving the butter out of the refrigerator for a few hours, it was hardly soft. In some ways it almost seemed it hadn’t softened at all. This can be explained by the recent cold weather (as it will soon be Winter in Australia), which made rubbing the butter through the flour a little time consuming.

The quantity of water mentioned in the recipe was too little so another half a teaspoon was added in order that the pastry did not crumble when it came time to roll it. Then another half a teaspoon and so on until the pastry became malleable.

Unfortunately the recipe did not mention that the pastry should be covered while it rest because it is known to dry out which again makes it difficult to roll. Reusable beeswax material was used to cover it while it was in the refridgerator.

Rolling the pastry is always a good way to work out any residual anxiety/anger etc. but to not be too enthusiastic in ridding yourself of these emotions as it may have an adverse effect on the pastry. It is best not to think of politics or world events while doing so.

 

Peeling and cutting the apples, it was time to reflect how often the microwave is used for cooking. At one time it was used regularly until someone complained.

Arranging the apples was fun and soon the sugar and cinnamon decorated the top and it was placed in the microwave.

 

The Cooking

After cooking for 10 minutes the apple was still a little under cooked. The pastry remained pale and the pie was returned for another 6 minutes. After this the apple seemed cooked.

The Eating

It looked okay, the pale pastry was somewhat off-putting, but it was crisp and did not crumble. The filling looked appealing.

While it was not the best apple pie I’ve ever eaten, it was quite nice.

Harper yummed the pie down. Lindsay abstained as sweet things do not tempt Lindsay.

The Verdict

The cookbook will be kept as it does have recipes specifically for the microwave. There may be further recipes attempted in the future depending on availability of ingredients, time and inclination.

 

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog.  I hope you and those you care about are safe and well.

Random Recipe: Curried Vegetable Pie from “Perfect Pies and Pastries” by Robyn Martin

It is Winter in Australia because we are located in the Southern Hemisphere. While some countries in the Northern Hemisphere are suffering extreme heat, in the ACT it is cold. (It may shock some people to be told that parts of Australia can indeed be cold and that snow falls in some areas.)

When it is cold, warming food: pies, stews, cake, casseroles etc, become a focus. For one of us, as you may know, cake is always a focus. There is nothing wrong with cake (until it becomes an obsession).

In Search of: Gramma Pie (Grandma’s)

 

When talking to a sibling, we often fondly reminisce about food from out childhood, the Lemon Pudding Cake, Melting Moments, Jamdrops, Christmas puddings, Flummery and one childhood memory of a pie we only tried once and never forgot.

I was reminded of this pie when shopping for vegetables and a different type of pumpkin was for sale.  A Gramma pumpkin.  Startled, (I am ashamed to admit this), it reminded me of the name of the pie that lived on in my memory because as a child I thought the pie was called Grandma Pie because she had created it, or Grammar Pie, because she did like us to speak and write correctly.  On impulse I bought some of the Gramma pumpkin and went home intent on finding a recipe and attempting to recreate the pie from my childhood.

In Search of: Lemon Pudding Cake (Grandma’s Recipe) Version Five

This cake was unplanned and the product of a need for cake (cake addiction is not a recognised addiction as yet) and trying to consume groceries before the use by date.  There seems to be a fine balance between having ingredients on hand in case inspiration strikes and they are needed and/or using them within the time period while they are still fresh and not expired.

In Search of: Lemon Pudding Cake (Grandma’s Recipe) Version Four

It has been a little while since I attempted to find this recipe and this time I once again opted for a cake which did not use packet cake, pudding or jelly mix.

The source of the recipe is here: https://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/lemon-bundt-cake/.

I sought and  received approval to use this recipe.  The Kitchen Magpie also has a recipe for a lemon pudding cake that I may attempt later, but at the time the ingredients for the Bundt Cake were already in the house the decision was made to try it.

In Search of: Lemon Pudding Cake as made by my Grandmother for my birthday – Version 3

The third of the attempts to replicate the best Lemon Pudding Cake I’ve tasted.

Source: http://www.amykayskitchen.com/moist-lemon-bundt-cake/

In Search Of: Grandma’s Lemon Pudding Birthday Cake, Version 2.

The second of the attempts to replicate the cake my grandmother made.

Unfortunately it seems most of the supermarkets in my general area do not stock lemon pudding mix, instead it is only possible to obtain vanilla pudding.  While this is not perfect, if the consistency of the cake is okay, it may be possible to adjust the flavours and make up for the lack of lemon within the pudding mix.

In Search of: Grandma’s Lemon Birthday Cake. 1st attempt.

My maternal grandmother was a wonderful cook.  She baked regularly and I grew up with melting moments, jam drops, jam tarts, ‘cheese’cakes, and other delights for which I sometimes grow nostalgic.

The lemon pudding cake was my birthday favourite.  Maybe because I like lemon, or because it was large, or the icing was the lovely mix between sweet and tart, or she decorated it with ‘Smarties’ and sometimes ‘Freckles’.  The cake was always moist and not too crumbly.

Recently I found one of my grandmother’s recipe books but it did not contain the recipe for this cake.  After talking with one of my siblings and recalling some conversations some conclusions were drawn.  Unlike most of the cakes my grandmother made, this was made in a ring tin.  It was also a combination of a packet lemon pudding and a packet lemon cake.

I do not, as a rule, like packet cake.  It often has an underlying chemical flavour and not knowing exactly what is in the mix makes me uneasy.  In spite of these reservations, I am determined to try to make the cake and record the recipe so I can make it and share it with others.

None of the baking books which I currently own contain a recipe for the cake I remember.  In this case I turned to ‘Chef’ Google and began searching.

After a while it became clear to me that searching for a ‘ring’ cake has rather strange results including some reference to an obscure trilogy of books about hobbits, rangers, orcs etc. (and I do not believe one cake will rule them all) which didn’t seem to be helpful. Further searches led to something about weddings which did not feature lemon cakes very often, but did have lots of flowers made of royal icing.  Further thinking and searching indicated that looking for a ‘Bundt’ cake might be more helpful. More searching and a few promising recipes were found (the links to these recipes will be included).

The first one selected was one which used lemon jelly (Jell-O in the recipe) instead of lemon pudding.  As my search of the supermarket only revealed vanilla pudding, it was decided that this would be the first attempt to re-create the recipe.

 

Link to recipe:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/glazed-lemon-flute-cake

It was very easy to make.  It took very little effort and there was a slight guilty feeling attached to making this cake due to the ease of simply emptying packets and doing a tiny bit of measuring.

The Bundt pan was a present and this was the first time it was used.  When the cake was turned out it looked similar, if a great deal smaller, than the cake I remembered.

On making the glaze, a problem was encountered.  Instead of remaining on the cake most of it ran down the sides and settled on the bottom of the plate.  This was not the result I wanted.  When making the icing it seemed too thin but the decision had been made to follow the recipe properly.

Cutting the cake, it appeared to have the right crumb and was moist. Slicing it was easy and I eagerly bit into it.

It was not the cake I remembered, but I did not expect it to be.  It is a quick and easy cake, has quite a pleasant taste and is moist with a similar consistency to the memorable birthday cake.

While I enjoyed the cake, I will probably not make it again as the package cake flavour, while subtle, is still present.

Verdict: A quick and easy moist lemon cake but not the one I am in search of.

Australian Quick ‘n’ Easy Muffins, Cakes, Biscuits, Slices, Loaves and Scones: Linzer Slice

Jamie

Unlike other cook books that might be released into the wild once more, this one is one which is one which will be kept.  Interesting fact, I like it so much I have two (quite by accident.  No, really.)

This cook book has, in my opinion, the easiest and most adaptable banana cake recipe, a wonderful apple slice, wonderful cinnamon tea cake, spice cake and more could be mentioned but hopefully you understand why this cook book is under no threat.