Bread pudding a la Sri Lankan

I <3 Bread pudding :)

Cold bread pudding, screwing my face up as I bite into pieces of lemon peel, cardamom pods and sorting through raisins are amongst my most fondest memories of childhood. And that is exactly what this blog is about - Nostalgic food that are close to the heart.

Of course this is a different recipe than what my mother used to make for us when we were small. I don't remember the exact differences but I do remember this; she likes to serve it cold, I like my bread pudding hot.

Derived from the British, the classic bread-and-butter pudding becomes plain old bread pudding when it comes to this tiny island. How do we like it? Very Sri Lankan. And here is my recipe.

Ingredients

• 12 pieces of bread (approx.) top crust removed
• 4 eggs
• Sugar (as per taste)
• 500 ml Sweetened condensed milk (can be alternated by 500ml regular milk)
• 1 rind of lime
• 4 tablespoons powdered spice (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, clove) 
• 200 g butter
• 200g raisins/sultanas
• Vanilla essence

Method

- Beat the eggs and sugar together until well combined.
- Add the milk.condensed milk and beat.
- Add the ground spice, few drops of vanilla essence and the rind of lemon. Keep mixture aside.
- Butter both sides of the bread and layer the bottom of a baking dish with a layer of bread.
- Sprinkle raisins/sultanas over the bread. Then pour a part of the egg/milk mixture to soak the bread.
- Spread another layer of bread over this. Keep layering till all the bread and the mixture is gone.
- Bake in a moderate oven till the top is crisp and a skewer inserted in the middle of the pudding comes out clean.
- Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream melting over the top.

The result? Beautiful, soft, yielding pudding with a moist middle that is buttery, milky and not too sweet. The top is browned wonderfully so as to give a buttery crunch to the otherwise spongy treat. The finely grated lime rind gives the pudding the distinct citrus taste and aroma while the spices add a certain fragrance while also cutting through the buttery sweetness of the pudding. Ah, decadence!

I like this warm with a bit of vanilla ice cream melting over the top. It's just fine without the ice cream too and would serve very well as a teatime treat on its own as well as an indulgent dessert after a meal. Get creative with it as this is a very versatile dish. Fruit sauce, fresh fruit, custard anything goes.

A warm bowl of this on a rainy cold day, cuddled up on a couch. Heaven just heaved a longing sigh.

I like this very Sri Lankan bread pudding for the fact that is unimaginably simple. Uncomplicated, clean flavours and a myriad of textures for your whole being to wonder and ponder over. What is more, it can be made out of the ingredients that can be found in any household without having to splurge on expensive ingredients. It also appeals to the lazy person that I am, taking literally just minutes to make. And the sweetness isn't too overpowering either. This can be downed in bowlfuls and while it is very filling, one would not feel sick from too much sweetness as is the case with other desserts out there.

What can I say? This is a taste from childhood that I still crave for from time to time. Mother, the best cook that I know in this world said that this particular one was exceptionally good. Made meself proud :)

  

Oh Christmas Cake!

Probably too late for this post, but what the heck. It's never too late for the good things in life. Like food.

So the infamous Christmas cake. Or the "Rich" cake as we know it. The deceptively simple yet notoriously difficult to get just right. A recipe that requires patience and almost ritual-like dedication. It's best to start making the cake about 2 months ahead of Christmas as it is a famously known fact that the older the cake gets, the better it tastes. There are a number of recipes that you can find online that may or may not work (most are inconsistent with a number of components missing) but knowing my inability to stick to a recipe to save my life, this particular combination has been tried, tested and perfected over a number of years. For me, this works so I stick to it every time. 

Ingredients 

(Part 1)

250g Sultanas

250g Raisins

250g Blackcurrents

250g Cashews (or almond or both)

300g Cherries

200g Pumpkin preserve (or puhul dosi as we Sri Lankans know it)

150gs Chow chow

250g Dates 

150g Candied peel

150g Ginger preserve

250ml Honey

250g Strawberry jam (optional)

500ml Brandy/Arrack

2 teaspoons almond essence

2 teaspoons Rose essence

4 heaped tablespoons powdered mixed spice(cinnamon, cardamom, clove, nutmeg)

(Part 2)

500g Sugar (I opt for brown sugar as I like the sort of caramel flavour it gives. Plus it's healthier!)

500g Semolina (If you like a fruitier cake, opt for around 300g)

250g Butter

15 egg whites

25 Egg yolks

Method (Part 1)

• De-seed and chop the dates into small pieces. Chop the cherries and chop the pumpkin preserve, chow chow, candied peel, cashews and ginger preserve as well. 
• Combine all ingredients in part 1 in a large bowl or basin. Give it a good stir.
• Put it in large jars or containers and leave aside in a cool dry place for about 1 month. Me being me, only had time to leave the fruits for about 2 weeks this time, but the cake came out just fine.   
• Feed it about once a week with brandy or arrack and give it a good stir. 

After the steeping period for the fruits is done, you are ready to bake the cake. After baking, it is best if you can leave the cake for at least a week before eating it, so that the ingredients can settle, merge and diffuse flavour. So the advise is to bake well before Christmas.

Method (Part 2)

• Roast semolina in a pan until it becomes slightly grainy and turns a golden brown in colour.
• Once it is cool, mix butter and semolina in a bowl until well combined.
• Beat the egg yolks and half the sugar in a bowl until well combined. The mixture should have a creamy, custardy texture which would ideally double in size upon beating.
• Beat the egg whites and the sugar together until stiff peaks form.(A tedious task with a hand beater, be warned!)
• Combine the egg yolk mixture and the semolina mixture together. Mix well. 
• Tip the steeped fruit into a large bowl/basin that has enough space for mixing. Give it a good final stir.
• Combine the semolina and egg yolk mixture and the fruits. Stir well until properly combined.
• Taste the mixture. Add more spices, almond or rose essence as desired if you think that the flavour is not sufficient.
• Fold the egg whites into this mixture. Be careful so as to not stir it too much.
• Prepare the cake tins. It's always good to double line the cake tins with oil paper. Apply plenty of butter as the cake tends to be quite sticky.
• Bake till a skewer or a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Rest the cake. Every two days or so, mix together honey with some brandy or arrack and brush the cakes generously with a thick brush. 
• Cut on Christmas day and enjoy!

This is the very Sri Lankan version of the British Christmas cake which I find to be too dry and well, not too "rich". Many use arrack and make it essentially Sri Lankan, but I prefer brandy or a fine aged cognac in mine as it gives this unique aroma to the cake that I have grown to love. 

Traditionally, all the fruits, including the sultanas, raisins and blackcurrants are chopped into tiny pieces or minced with mincing machines which makes the cake go all mushy. I like a chunkier cake and hence I do not chop the sultanas, raisins and the blackcurrants at all. I quarter the cherries and chop only the dates, the ginger preserve, candied peel. pumpkin preserve and the chow chow into fine pieces simply because biting into a large piece of those would be quite unpleasant and off-putting. The result is a moist, "rich" and chunky cake with a delightful bite!

One immediately senses the almond and the rose in the cake, both on the nose as well as on the tongue. As you bite into it, the slightly grainy texture of the semolina contrasts well with the juiciness of the sultanas and raisins that have grown plump with the steeping, bursting forth with their sweet juices against the teeth. The cherries add that distinct flavour and a stubborn bite to the cake while the spices really come through and counteract against the sweetness of the rest of the cake. The ginger preserve adds a certain piquancy that is very much welcome to the sweetness that is on the verge of being slightly overpowering. The candied peel contributes with its due amount of citrus acidity, adding yet another layer of flavour to this already complex dish, fragrant with the piercing notes of brandy, ever present like a background tune right throughout the experience. Sweet, sweet decadence.   

The cake certainly does taste better as it ages and this I can confirm to be no myth. I suppose the fermenting does not stop even after baking. However, store the cakes properly where ants or other animals cannot get to it. Humidity too spoils the cake, so make sure that the place you store the cakes is dry and clean. You can keep the cake for years if I am not mistaken. That is, if you have the kind of eating discipline to make it last that long.   

It's surprising how little sugar you need for the cake though. The ingredients in themselves are sweet enough that extra sugar is considered unnecessary. However, you can always put the almond icing on the cake as well if you prefer, but I just couldn't be bothered. Why ruin a perfectly alright cake with another layer I thought. It already tastes pretty amazing as it is. Quite a mess to cut and serve though when it is chunky. If I do get the time, I make it a point to individually wrap pieces and keep. Less messier to serve that way, much easier to distribute. Besides, what's a Christmas cake if it isn't shared!