Milk Pudding with Caramel Topping

[Ruhi_Rose]

 







As-Salam Alaykum my dear, dear folks 😀


With the pandemic still raging away enough to be viewed as perilous, and families continue to be in necessary isolation despite its hardships 🤧 here I come at our sweet and cheerful MV Food Sooq with a goodie you can prepare in your kitchen to cheer yourself, Insh'Allah.

Yep, it's milk and caramel pudding.   They call it a 'quick dessert' to prepare, but it really isn't quick as most fancy desserts aren't. However, the ingredients are few and basic that are found in most kitchens more often than not.  The important thing to mention is, this dessert is delicious even though it contains only the simplest of ingredients, milk, sugar, butter, flour and vanilla flavor.   By the way, it's perfectly Halal to use the vanilla essence found in regular grocery stores according to logic, common sense and our thorough MV research on this aspect.  You can check that in our post Is vanilla essence Haram?





Absolutely yummy!    So, let's get started  😑


Ingredients:

100 gr unsalted butter  (or 3 tablespoons)
120 gr of flour  (or 13 tablespoons)  [my experience tells flour should be less]
1 liter of milk  (4  metric cups)
170 gr of sugar  (or 5.6 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
30 cl of water (or 1.2 cups)

I hope the conversions in tablespoons and cups are correct.  Please check at your end.


Method:

1)  Melt butter.

2)  Add 120 grams flour.    Stir until thick and brownish.

3)  Very gradually add 1 litre milk, little by little, stirring all the time.   It will initially be lumpy and lumps will slowly dissolve as you keep stirring, though some smaller lumps may still be there.

4)  After the milk, add two-thirds of the sugar and vanilla.   Keep cooking, stirring until the milk thickens.   It would take a little while.

5)  When thick, cool for a little while then pour into a pyrex or china dish suited for desserts and chill for 30 minutes.

6)  In a separate clean cup or small bowl, add 1 tbsp cornstarch and about three-quarters of a glass of water.   Mix until smooth and set aside for the moment.

7)  Pour approximately half cup of sugar in a cooking pan to make caramel.  Cook until a nice golden color appears.  Add approximately one-fourth glass water.  Mix well.  Be careful, as you add water the caramel will make a furious swishy noise with smoke.   Then add into it the cornflour-water mixture.  It will again make the swishy noise and burn furiously.   Keep stirring carefully until it thickens and gets a golden color. 

8)  Remove the milk pudding from the fridge and pour the prepared caramel over it, gently spreading with a blunt spatula as well as you possibly can.

9)  Chill for another 30 minutes and then enjoy!



Youtube demonstration of milk & caramel pudding:

[Zainab_M]

Subhan'Allah .... simply delectable! 

[N. Truth Seeker]

Must send this to my mom and sis, Insh'Allah.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Bism'Allah and Alhumdulilah.    Excellent!   And yeah the ingredients are totally basic.  Just that we've run out of corn flour.   Can it be substituted with all purpose flour?

Secondly, a question on the preparation of caramel.

 

7)  Pour approximately half cup of sugar in a cooking pan to make caramel.  Cook until a nice golden color appears.  Add approximately one-fourth glass water.  Mix well.  Be careful, as you add water the caramel will make a furious swishy noise with smoke.   Then add into it the cornflour-water mixture.  It will again make the swishy noise and burn furiously.   Keep stirring carefully until it thickens and gets a golden color. 
 

Instead of adding the approximately one-fourth glass of water in golden caramel of melted sugar, how about making wet caramel with sugar and water, and adding corn flour mixture to it?  If yes, then Sis kindly wrap up with the basic recipe of wet caramel.  I do know the ingredients but not sure of the precise measurements.

[Ruhi_Rose]

...  Just that we've run out of corn flour.   Can it be substituted with all purpose flour?

Yeah Sis, you can.  You just need to change the quantity.  It's recommended to use twice the quantity of white flour compared to corn flour for thickening purposes. So if you need 1 tablespoon of cornflour, use 2 tablespoons of white flour.  Also, all purpose flour may not get the same shine as cornflour or cornstarch would. All purpose flour may make the caramel look a bit more matte.  But no other difference.  

Instead of adding the approximately one-fourth glass of water in golden caramel of melted sugar, how about making wet caramel with sugar and water, and adding corn flour mixture to it?  If yes, then Sis kindly wrap up with the basic recipe of wet caramel.  I do know the ingredients but not sure of the precise measurements.

 

Again, I'm sure you can sis.  Here's how I make wet caramel.  

Step 1 Combine sugar and water in the pan, 1 cup sugar and ¼ cup water.   Just make sure there's enough water to dampen all of the sugar you're using.

Step 2  Place the pan on low heat and stir the sugar-water syrup until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup looks clear like water.

Step 3  Once the syrup looks clear, stop stirring, heighten the heat a bit (approximately to medium) and allow the syrup to come to a rolling boil.

Step 4  As it boils, stir occasionally and keep an eye on the sides of the pan. That's where the syrup starts changing color .. from the corners along the pan.  Gradually as it boils it will thicken, bubbles will appear and get larger.

Step 5   Cook the caramel until you get the color and shade you want.  Lighter color caramels taste sweeter.  As it gets darker, the flavor begins to change to bittersweet.  If it gets too dark, it will end up getting burned.  So be careful during preparation.  My suggestion: when it's golden brown, it's done.  Time to stop cooking. 

Step 6   Some people prefer a cold water bath by dunking the pan in an inch of cold water filled in the sink.  But not necessary.  Just keep it over a cool stove.  To keep it sopping, finish off by adding a little knob of unsalted butter, stirring well and leaving it over a cool stove for a while.   Alternatively, you can also add a drop or two of lemon juice instead of butter.  The acid helps to keep it soggy and wet through.  Some folks also use a little cream.   It's entirely one's personal choice.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Alhumdulilah.

Load of thanks sis Ruhi, very professional. 

And if I want to store leftover caramel, I need to put it in the fridge, right?

[Ruhi_Rose]

I've never stored caramel but it's a good idea to make additional caramel and store it for later use.  My sister does it.  She keeps it in the fridge only when she uses cream to keep it moist.  But she mostly uses unsalted butter and then she leaves the jar in room temperature.  Of course, she hasn't stored it for too long, as I know.  Maybe three or four days, not more.   But I would think that if the contents are only sugar, water and butter, it can be left at room temperature for longer.   It's only when you use cream .. and probably lemon too ... that it needs to be refrigerated.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Thanks again sis.  Makes lot a sense.

[N. Truth Seeker]

My niece is asking how about sprinkling chocolate chips instead of spreading caramel layer ?   😃

[Heba E. Husseyn]

 🙃 .. 😊   won't the chocolate chips melt gradually?

[Ruhi_Rose]

I don't think chocolate chips would melt, chocolate flakes could melt however  🤥  But it will change the taste of the dessert somewhat.   Kids may still like it ..


 😄

[N. Truth Seeker]

Okay sisters.  Thanks.  She's coming to read it herself .....  🙂 

[Ruhi_Rose]

👍  😀