Eve's Pudding
A few days
ago, my husband and I had a date night and chose to take a cooking
class. Since it's almost St. Patrick's Day, the theme of the class
was Irish cooking and the recipes presented came from “Forgotten
Skills of Cooking,” by Darina Allen. (Side note: I want this
cookbook! My birthday is in June...just saying.) The chef chose to
make Eve's Pudding from Ms. Allen's book for dessert and it was
delicious.
Although
the reference to Eve is thought to derive from the inclusion of
apples in this dessert, my husband requested that I make it with
pears instead. I chose to add strawberries and raspberries as well,
but you can use whatever fruit combination you like best. Do not let
the self-rising flour on the ingredient list keep you from making
this dessert. If you do not have access to self-rising flour, I have
included a quick and easy recipe for making your own at home out of
pantry staples.
Does this
dessert tempt you? Please leave a comment to let me know what you
think.
Fruit
Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds
cooking apples, pears, rhubarb, plums, blueberries, strawberries,
blackberries, raspberries, or any combination of these
1/3 to ½
cup sugar (depending on the ripeness and sweetness of the fruit)
1
tablespoon water
Topping
Ingredients:
4
tablespoons butter, softened
¼ cup
sugar
1 egg,
beaten
¾ cup
self-rising flour*
1
tablespoon milk
*To make
self-rising flour, combine 1 cup flour + 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
+ ¼ teaspoon salt. Obviously, this makes a little over a cup so you
will have extra to store for future use after measuring out your ¾
cup for this recipe.
If you are
using berries or plums, they do not need to be cooked but apples,
pears, and rhubarb should be cooked to soften them before proceeding.
Peel, core, and thinly slice apples and pears; cut rhubarb into
small chunks. Sauté the fruit in
a heavy bottomed skillet with the sugar and water over medium-low
heat. The fruit will be finished cooking when it has softened and
you begin to smell it's aroma wafting up from the pan. Leaving any
liquid behind, spoon the fruit into a buttered pie pan and set aside.
Preheat the
oven to 400 degrees. Whip the butter until soft (either with
hand-held mixer or in a stand mixer), then add the sugar and beat
until light and fluffy, which will take several minutes. Add the egg
a bit at a time until fully incorporated. Fold in the flour by hand
with a spatula, about ¼ cup at a time, then add the milk. The
topping mixture should be a cross between cake batter and cookie
dough. Take a plum-sized glob, stretch it out a bit, and lay it on
top of the fruit in the pie pan. Keep doing this until you run out
of topping. You will most likely have some holes here and there, as
it will probably not cover the entire top of the dish. Bake for 25
to 30 minutes, or until the topping in the center is firm to the
touch.
Source:
"Forgotten
Skills of Cooking," by Darina Allen
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