Mixed Berry Pudding Food

MIXED BERRY PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark3. Butter the bottom of am 800ml (4 cup) baking dish. Mix 2 TBS of the sugar with the berries and scatter over the bottom of the dish. Set aside. Cream together the butter and remaining sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour and yogurt, alternately in three batches, until smooth. Spoon the batter over the berries and smooth out. Scatter the almonds over top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the sponge is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with the cream or additional yogurt.

VERY BERRY BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• NOTE: I have found that people tend to fight over the browned top crust of bread pudding so I solved that problem by baking mine in a 10" round x 4" deep Pyrex casserole, ensuring everyone of receiving a large portion of browned pudding with enough soft pudding underneath. This meant that I had to use a 17" x 13" x 2" deep broiler pan for the Bain Marie or water bath. If you choose to use a different size baking dish, results may vary, such as a longer baking time. My bread pudding ended up being 2.5" deep.
• Directions for bread pudding:.
• Preheat oven to 335 degrees. Fill tea kettle with enough water to fill a 13" x 17" pan, half way up with boiling water. Bring water to boil, then turn down heat to a simmer, for later use. Butter the casserole dish; set aside.
• Place the 2 cups of milk in a large saucepan, uncovered, over medium heat. Let the milk heat in the pan, without stirring, until a skin forms on top and it is scalded. Or, if this makes you uneasy, stir the milk and continue heating until small bubbles form along the edges of the pan. Remove from heat.
• Meanwhile, place the eggs and yolks in a large mixing container with a pouring spout. Beat or whisk briefly, only to mix, not until they are foamy or light. (This beats too much air into the custard)
• Gradually add the sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, ground cinnamon, ground ginger and salt, beating only until well mixed.
• Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, slowly add 1/4 cup amounts of the hot milk to the egg mixture, stirring gently. When 1 cup of warm milk has been added into the egg mixture, add the remaining milk and stir gently. This process is called "tempering", making sure that your eggs don't "scramble" in the pan from the heat of the milk! Set aside custard mixture.
• In a large bowl, tear the Hawaiian rolls apart into large chunks, totaling 6 cups. Using a large mesh strainer, pour your custard mixture slowly over the bread roll cubes. (Straining the custard catches any lumpy egg whites.) Stir very gently, making sure that the bread rolls are all thoroughly coated. Allow to rest in the bowl for 10 minutes. Stir twice.
• While the bread is soaking up the custard, measure out your frozen berries. I'm lucky enough to have a deep freezer so I have individual bags of the berries, but a quality brand of mixed berries with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and black raspberries can be used. They should NOT be mashed!
• Gently fold the 2 cups of mixed frozen berries into the custard/bread mixture. Pour this into the prepared casserole dish, using a spoon to make sure that the berries are well distributed and that the raspberries are pushed down into the custard, to fill their little centers.
• Place the casserole dish into the broiler pan and place this into the oven, leaving the oven door open. Carefully pour the hot, boiling water into the pan, going up to 1/2 the height of the casserole. NOTE: PLEASE BE CAREFUL! I have a long-necked tea kettle so there is no risk of burning myself. However, if you feel more comfortable filling the broiler pan with the hot water prior to placing it into the oven, do what makes sense for YOU!
• Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a sharp knife inserted 1 inch into the middle of the custard comes out clean. Carefully remove the broiler pan and place on a heat-proof surface. Lift the casserole out of the water, place it on a wire rack and cool for 1 hour or until a comfortable eating temperature. Allow water in broiler pan to cool, dump out when safe to the touch.
• Serve warm, cool, cold. Plain or with topping of choice. Just enjoy it, however you please!
• Directions for Orange Whipped Cream:.
• Have ALL of your ingredients and equipment ice cold! I store the beaters in the bowl in my frig and have a small dish of the sifted powdered sugar in there, too. (Sifting the powdered sugar after you've measured it eliminates nasty sugar lumps!)
• Remove bowl, beaters, whipping cream and powdered sugar from the refrigerator. Insert beaters into machine, shake whipping cream multiple times to integrate the butter fat; pour into the bowl.
• Starting out at the lowest speed, beat whipping cream until it slightly thickens. Starting out at a lower speed prevents splashing all over.
• Once cream begins to thicken, increase speed to medium high and whip until soft peaks begin to form. Increase speed to high and slowly add the powdered sugar to the whipped cream, being sure to reach all corners of the bowl if doing this with a hand mixer.
• When firm peaks have formed, add vanilla extract and 2-3 drops of orange oil (or orange zest) and blend only until combined, about 10 seconds.
• Serve a dollop of this on top of the still warm Very Berry Bread Pudding. The whipped cream is also good in your coffee, with a dash of cinnamon!

MIXED BERRY BREAD PUDDING WITH LEMON FONDANT (TYLER FLORENCE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Generously butter a large casserole dish, or 8 6-ounce ramekins. Pour in sugar, and rotate dish so all of the buttered surfaces are coated with sugar; knock out any excess sugar.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla, lemon zest and sugar, until well combined.
• Roughly tear bread into large pieces with your hands. Add bread to custard and stir to combine. Spread berries evenly over the bottom of the casserole, or divide amongst the prepared ramekins. Pour custard mixture into pan or divide amongst ramekins, and push down to submerge the bread. Sprinkle the top evenly with additional sugar, then refrigerate 10-15 minutes to soak.
• Bake in preheated oven 25 minutes, or until puffy, the custard is set, and the top is golden-brown. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, stir together confectioner's sugar, water, lemon zest and lemon juice, until smooth.
• When slightly cooled, if using individual ramekins, invert each pudding onto a serving plate; otherwise, simply dish a portion onto each plate. Drizzle pudding with lemon fondant. Serve with additional fresh berries.