When I say “pudding”, I know what you are thinking, but no this is not a jell-o snak pak. This version of pudding is a more general term to refer to a gelatinous east Asian dessert usually made with coconut milk and exotic fruits. In terms of its texture, it is more similar to a flan or panna cotta than a pudding as we typically think of it.
We had these amazing little puddings called sapin-sapin from one of the markets we went to at the Asian Festival, and they reminded me of a recipe I had in an Asian cookbook. The recipe showed lychees being used as a garnish, and as strange as it my seem, I had a can of lychees in my pantry that I needed to use.
This little dessert was originally going to be mango puddings served with lychee, but the mango version had a really odd taste, and the texture of the lychees was also quite odd. So I decided to try again and reverse the situation this time. The results were far better, especially with the mango sauce I created to drizzle on top.
Lychee Puddings with Mango Drizzle
Ingredients:
3 cups of coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tbsp gelatine
1 can of lychees, pureed, and pushed through a sieve
1 large ripe mango, pitted, pureed, and pushed through a sieve
Method:
Heat the coconut milk with the sugar until sugar has dissolved. Add the gelatine and stir until dissolved.
Beat the egg yolk with the lychee puree and add mixture to the coconut milk. Stir until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into lightly greased molds and leave to cool.
Place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, until set
To make the drizzle, heat the mango puree with about 1/4 cup of sugar. If its too thick, add some water. If it gets too thin, add more sugar. It should have the consistency of syrup.
Take the puddings out of the molds, drizzle with the mango syrup, and serve with mango slices or chunks if desired.
These exotic delights are a refreshing end to meal. They are luscious, sweet, and best of all; dairy-free. It is a light dessert that is also satisfying.
First and foremost, let me get one thing straight. This is the one and only time you will see me do a cupcake post.
Well, maybe…
I apologize in advance, as this post may get lengthy. These cakes have a lot of history.
This story starts about a year and a half ago…
This is when I decided to start a food blog. It is also when I decided to enter a KitchenAid recipe contest in an attempt to win me one of them there perty stand mixers…
After I developed a recipe, I just jumped into styling and photographing these lava cakes with literally NO IDEA of what I was doing. I’m actually pretty shocked that this first effort was by far my best effort in those early days of this journey. This shot below was taken on a point-and-shoot Kodak camera with no conceptual knowledge of cameras, lighting, or styling. I knew my food looked and tasted good, and I’m still surprised to this day that it translated in the pictures. (at least I think so, but you be the judge)
As some of you may know, before I created this blog, there was another. It was a sort of beta-blog that I created myself using Adobe Dreamweaver. After creating it, I felt that I wasn’t yet ready to be a food blogger, which takes a lot of dedication. So instead I focused my time on learning about photography, investing in a DSLR, and continuing my culinary training and study. During this time I also narrowed my point of view and created a brand for myself. So this old blog is a bit more generic, and also the name was taken by an actual company. Anyway, I figured I would share it with you guys. Marvel at its mediocrity:
These lava cakes were really the only post that was created for it. My friends and family had heard me talk about working on a food blog for so long, though with little concept of what exactly food blogging is. I’m actually not sure how many of my friends and family even saw this first attempt at a blog, but there is one person that I’m sure saw it…
My friend Lauren has been bugging me to make these dark chocolate peppermint lava cakes for her ever since she first saw them over a year ago. This year for her birthday, I finally made it happen. Hence the new cupcake makeover.
I also made this giant one for her… (though I helped share it)
Oh here’s the recipe by the way, in case you were wondering…
ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 tbsp (dark chocolate) cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp butter
3/4 cup (about half a bag) Andes creme de menthe baking chips
(or use chocolate and creme de menthe)
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler.
In a bowl, combine dry ingredients.
Add wet ingredients, including chocolate and butter to the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated and batter is smooth. You can most certainly just start eating here. No shame.
Grease ramekins (if you intend to remove them), or use a cupcake pan with liners. Ramekins will make bigger cakes; fill until batter almost reaches the top of the rim.
Bake on 350 for 10 minutes (oven times may vary). You want to wait until the tops just set. Much longer and you will have regular chocolate cakes (also delicious), and any less and you will end up with gooey sink holes (still delicious).
Allow at least 5 minutes to cool.
Serve however you like!
As you can see, I have served them a variety of ways… and eaten way too many of them.
There is a bit more to the story, you see. The full story is on the old blog post linked above, but let’s just say I had a little mixer mishap. It’s funny because you really don’t need any sort of mixer to make these, but I wanted to show off my ancient hand mixer to try and gain sympathy points with the judges of the video contest. The prize was a KitchenAid stand mixer after all. Well during the filming of the video…the mixer had some technical difficulties. We kept on filming as I viewed the unforeseen dilemma as an opportunity to start hamming up my need for a new mixer. And that’s when it happens…
(Yes, I found the footage and edited it a year later)
Well I hope you enjoyed my blast from the past; I know I did. (oof I certainly don’t miss that tiny kitchen though)
Stay tuned for a dessert post that is a bit more makizavellian in nature…
May the fish (and the spirit of my fallen mixer) be with you,
Maki Zavelli 