This puddings recipe is for the queen of puddings. This queen of puddings recipe is meringue-based and uses different coloured and flavoured jams to make a great looking dessert.
Ingredients – serves 6
- 200g madiera cake
- 500ml full fat milk
- 4 eggs (medium)
- 75g caster sugar
- Vanilla extract drops
- Nutmeg to taste
- Butter for greasing
- 2tbs red jam
- 2tbs yellow jam
- 2tbs green jam
- Meringue mix (2 eggs)
Getting everything ready
- Lightly butter an ovenproof dish.
- Cut the Madeira cake into small cubes and place in the ovenproof dish.
- Separate the egg whites for the meringue and place in a very clean bowl. Save the yolks for another recipe.
Method
- Pour the milk into a saucepan, then add the 75g of caster sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract.
- Place on the hob over a low heat and stir from time to time until the sugar has dissolved.
- Meanwhile, break the medium size eggs into a clean bowl and whisk lightly. Continue to whisk and pour in the hot milk. Pass through a fine strainer into a clean jug and then pour over the cubes of Madeira cake in the dish. Mix lightly with a dinner fork, grate over a touch of nutmeg and allow it to stand for about 15 minutes.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4).
- Place the ovenproof dish into a large tray and half fill the tray with hot water to make a bain marie. Then, place it in the pre-heated oven to bake for about 35–40 minutes or until the pudding is firm to touch. remove from the oven and keep warm in the bain marie.
- Heat the grill to hot.
- Make the meringue – whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and then slowly whisk in the caster sugar.
- Spoon the meringue mixture into a large clean piping bag fitted with a star tube and neatly pipe lines of meringue across your pudding. Then, pipe more lines at right angles across the pudding. You should now have a lot of small, empty squares between the lines of meringue.
- Using a teaspoon, spoon the different coloured jams into the empty squares, which should give your finished pudding a harlequin look.
- Place onto a baking tray and pop it under the hot grill for a few seconds to colour the meringue. Or, give it a quick blast with a blow torch, if you have one. Serve hot.