Baked Honey Custards (Rosh Hashanah 5769)

A golden and velvety dairy dessert flavored with honey and cinnamon

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is approaching soon: the celebration begins at sundown Monday September 28th.

It is customary to eat honey to celebrate, in the hope that the new year will be a sweet one.

This simple custard is sweetened entirely with honey and could be a delicious addition to the table for this Holiday. It is milk based, but it could work as well with strained orange juice for a parve version. It is also very easy and quick to assemble.

Other ideas for Rosh Hashanah desserts are these:

Honey Cake—which I posted last year

Honey Cookies—from Miri at Room for Dessert

Magical Honey Cake—from Baroness Tapuzina

September is also National Honey Month and you can read all about it at Louise‘s Months of Edible Celebrations

From the original recipe by the United States Dept. of Agriculture

In: “Farmers’ Bulletin”, 1917—USA

Ingredients

5 eggs

1/2 cup of honey

4 cups scalded milk

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 325F (170C).

Mix the eggs, honey, cinnamon and salt, then add the milk in a fine stream. Mix well to combine but try to avoid making the mixture foam too much.

Fill 8-10 ramekins and bake the custard in a water bath: place the ramekins in a roasting pan, preferably placing a rack underneath them, fill the pan with hot water so that it reaches half-way up the side of the ramekins. Cover with a piece of aluminum foil and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the custards are still giggly in the center. Let them cool in the water bath, then refrigerate. Serve well chilled.

L’Shanah Tovah!

Junket (Got Milk?)

A delicate jelly-like milk dessert

This is my entry for the blog event Got Milk? hosted by Linda from Make Life Sweeter! for world breastfeeding week.

ROUNDUP IS HERE

Junket is an old-fashioned dessert made very simply by curdling fresh milk with rennet and adding a bit of sugar and flavoring—in most of the earliest recipes a little wine (sack) is added as well.

It is very easy to make and  a very pleasant, delicate and refreshing dessert that is also ready in almost no time and with very little work involved.

I used a kosher vegetarian rennet but liquid rennet or regular animal rennet tablets can be used, following manufacturer’s directions.

It can be flavored with vanilla, lemon oil, caramel, cocoa, coffee, fruit juice, cinnamon…possibilities are almost endless. My personal favorite is almond extract. It is also nice to pair it with fresh fruit such as berries.

From the original recipe by Frances Elizabeth Stewart

In: “Lessons in Cookery”, 1919—USA

Ingredients

1 quart fresh whole milk

1 junket tablet

1 tbsp cold water

2-8 tbsp sugar (I used 8 )

1-2 tsp vanilla extract (or to taste) or any other flavoring

dash of salt

Heat the milk in a double boiler (or in the microwave) just until lukewarm (96.8 F—37C)—not higher than that or the milk won’t set.

Dissolve the sugar and salt in the milk and add the flavoring of your choice. Dissolve the rennet in cold water.

Get ready 6-8 stemmed glasses. Mix the rennet water into the milk stirring very gently and very briefly and immediately pour the milk into the prepared glasses. Cover each with a piece of plastic wrap and let the milk set in a warm place. It is important not to stir, move or otherwise disturb the milk while it is setting, or the curds will separate from the whey, ruining the final result.

As soon as the milk is set (it will have the consistency of a soft jelly) place the glasses in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly. Serve immediately—if the junket is left to stand it will become curdled and separate from the whey.

Once ready it can be sprinkled with cinnamon or nutmeg and/or sugar.

the recipe can be halved.

Note: Junket tablets or liquid rennet (regular or vegetarian) are sold in most supermarkets, health food stores, and cheesemaking supply stores.

Arroz Con Leche (Rice Pudding)

Comfort food: a bowl of creamy arroz con leche, lightly sweetened and flavored with cinnamon and lemon zest

This is my entry for the 2008 edition of the Comfort Food Cook-Off hosted by Eve from The Garden of Eating.

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This type of rice and milk pudding is, for me, the ultimate comfort food. The texture is velvety and speckled with pleasantly chewy rice kernels, while the flavor is delicate without being bland or cloyingly sweet. It is also easy and quick to make—perfection is simple.

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From the original recipe by Calleja

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In: “La Mejor Cocinera”, 19….? –Spain

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Ingredients

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1 qt (1 l ) whole milk

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1 cup (200 g) sugar

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1 cup (200 g) short-grain rice

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1 cinnamon stick

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zest of 1 (organic) lemon

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ground cinnamon to serve

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Rinse and drain the rice and set aside.

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Place the milk, sugar, cinnamon stick and lemon zest in a large saucepan and bring slowly to the boiling point, add the rice and, on low heat, let it cook in the milk until the

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kernels are tender and the mixture turns creamy. Stir often to prevent scorching, and keep the heat low. It will take about 20-25 minutes, depending on the rice. If it

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thickens too much and the rice is not cooked through yet, add a little hot milk and continue cooking until the mixture reaches the right consistency and the rice is tender.

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Transfer the pudding into individual serving bowls (discard the cinnamon stick and lemon zest strips) and sprinkle lightly with ground cinnamon.

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Serve either warm or chilled.

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Steamed Chocolate-Hazelnut Pudding with Caramel Sauce (SHF#38)

A warm, airy pudding in which the flavors of chocolate, hazelnuts and caramel combine in perfect harmony. A nice dessert for snowy, wintry evenings.

This is my entry for Sugar High Fridays #38, hosted this time by Zorra who proposed a wonderful theme: Pudding

Here is the ROUNDUP 

Steamed puddings are old-fashioned desserts that, when made properly, have a feathery light, spongy texture. For perfect results, here are a few simple rules to remember–in the words of Marion Harland from her book Common Sense in the Household (1873):

♦ The water must be boiling when the pudding goes in, and not stop boiling for one instant until it is done. […]

♦ The water should not quite reach to the top of a mould. […]

♦ When the time is up, take mould […] from the boiling pot, and plunge instantly into cold water; then, turn out without the loss of a second. This will prevent sticking, and leave a clearer impression of the mould upon the contents.

♦ Boiled puddings should be served as soon as they are done, as they soon become heavy.

There are special moulds for steamed puddings, which are provided with a lid that can be closed tight. However, a regular pudding mould, a large pyrex bowl, or even a clean coffee can all work fine, if they are covered with a piece of aluminum foil secured with string. This method sounds more complicated than it really is, and the results are truly worth it. The batter could be baked in an oven, but the pudding will not have the same moist and light texture.

From the original recipes by Maria Willett Howard

In: Lowney’s Cook Book, 1912–USA

Ingredients

2 tbsp (30 g) butter

1/4 cup (30 g) flour

1 oz. (30 g–1 square) unsweetened chocolate, grated (I used 85% bittersweet chocolate)

1/4 tsp (1.5 g) salt

1/2 cup (240 ml) milk, scalded

5 eggs, divided

3/4 cup (150 g) sugar

1/2 cup (100 g) toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped (Almonds, walnuts, and pecans work equally well in place of the hazelnuts)

Caramel Sauce

1 cup (200 g) sugar + 1 cup (240 g) boiling water

Make the pudding: Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour and mix well to avoid lumps; add grated chocolate and salt, stirring continuously and add scalded milk in a thin stream stirring well. Cook the mixture for 5 minutes on very low heat then set aside to cool. Meanwhile beat the yolks till light and pale yellow, adding sugar little by little, then add hazelnuts and stir well. When well blended, add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and mix well. Beat the egg whites till firm and glossy, then fold them into the chocolate mixture, using a spatula. Be careful doing this last operation, to avoid deflating the egg whites.

Generously grease a pudding mould (2-quart–2 l capacity) or 10-12 individual ramekins with melted butter or vegetable oil. Grease also the pudding lid or the piece of aluminum foil that will cover the top of the mould(s) if you don’t have molds with a lid. Fill the moulds no more than 3/4, cover with lid or foil. Secure the foil with an elastic band.

Place a rack or trivet in the bottom of a pot deep enough to contain the mould(s), lower the mould(s) into the pot and add enough boiling water to reach half-way up the sides of the mould(s). Keep extra boiling water ready in case it is necessary to add more to the pot while the pudding is steaming (check often). Cover the pot with its lid with a weight on it to prevent the steam to escape.

Put the pot on high heat until the water starts boiling again, then lower the heat to keep the water simmering and steam the pudding. When the time is up carefully lift the mould out of the pot, plunge it in cold water, immediately unmould the pudding and serve.

To make this recipe this time I have used 10 individual deep ramekins, each of them covered with a piece of aluminum foil secured with string. I had to use two pots to steam all the puddings, and I let them boil for 50 minutes. If you use a single large mould, the pudding will have to steam for at least 1 hour and 45 minutes. A longer steaming time does not affect in any way the final result.

Caramel Sauce

Caramelize sugar in a deep saucepan. When it acquires a nice golden brown color, carefully add the boiling water, stirring vigorously to dissolve the lumps that will form. Simmer 15 minutes on low heat, then take off the heat and immerse the bottom of the pan in cold water to stop the cooking. The sauce is ready to pour on the pudding as soon as the pudding is unmolded.

P.S. Steamed puddings are always served with a sweet sauce.