Meyer Lemon Budino

I thought what could be better than fresh lemons during those hot summer days. So I started looking for a dessert recipe and found one that I really liked a lot. This is a great pudding recipe (Budino is Italian for "pudding.") which is not too sweet. The recipe is from Bon Appetit and very very easy to make.

If you can't find Meyer lemons, you can use regular lemons instead, but the pudding will be more tart. Or use Key Lime juice and regular lime zest, which will make the pudding sweeter.

Enjoy:)

MEYER LEMON BUDINO

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh regular lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely grated Meyer lemon peel
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk

1/4 teaspoon salt
Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter six 3/4-cup custard cups or ramekins. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, egg yolks, flour, lemon juice, and lemon peel in large bowl; whisk until well blended. Whisk in milk.

Using electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt in medium bowl until frothy. Gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Fold beaten egg whites into lemon mixture in 2 additions.

Divide mixture among prepared custard cups. Place custard cups in roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of custard cups.

Bake puddings until tops are golden and spring back when lightly touched, about 30 minutes. Remove cups from water.

Serve warm or cold with whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Espresso Sambuca Tapioca Pudding

If you like pudding, and if you like tapioca you have to give this very easy dessert a try. The recipe is from Gourmet, and I prepare it when I'm in a hurry:)

My preference is to use the anisette instead of Sambuca which I can find at my local Greek/Armenian market. See which one you like better.

It's fun to serve it with coffee ice cream, and then some whipped cream to top it all. Yummm:)

ESPRESSO SAMBUCA TAPIOCA PUDDING

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons instant tapioca
5 teaspoons instant-espresso powder
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon Sambuca or anisette

Accompaniment: lightly sweetened whipped cream

Directions:
Stir together milk, sugar, tapioca, espresso powder, and egg in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan and let stand 5 minutes.

Heat over moderately low heat, stirring, just until pudding reaches a simmer.

Stir in Sambuca and cool pudding, its surface covered directly with wax paper.

Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Makes 4 servings.

Turkish Milk Pudding with Rosewater - Su Muhallebisi

Here is another wonderful dessert recipe using milk. This one is sold at specialty shops and it's impossible to describe it, but it's very easy to make, so give it a try:)

You can skip the rosewater and serve it with ice cream, because it's a different pudding. It's actually thick enough where you need to cut it into squares rather than serve it in a cup. Or you can pour into a cup and add the additional ingredients, but make sure that you don't fill the cup too much. About an inch thickness is really enough for this pudding because of it's consistency.

Salep Ice cream is served along with the rose water in Turkey, but id you skip the rosewater you can try it with any ice cream, including sorbets, it's really really good.

You can use mastic in this recipe which gives it a really distinctive taste. Just use a pestle and use about 4 small pieces of mastic. You should end up with about a teaspoon of powder consistency which you can add to the milk mixture you are cooking. This would be called 'sakizli muhallebi' and it's another wonderful taste.

You can also use a little bit of cinnamon on top while serving. Or some pistachio.

This is a very versatile recipe that you can add ingredients to make it a richer taste. Enjoy:)

TURKISH MILK PUDDING WITH ROSEWATER - SU MUHALLEBI

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons cornflour
3 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons rosewater
Powdered sugar (Confectioners Sugar)

Directions:
Mix the cornflour and sugar into the cold milk and cook, stirring, over a moderate heat until it thickens.

Cook for a further 4-5 minutes. Rinse out a shallow dish or individual bowls and, while they are still wet, pour the mixture in to a depth of less than an inch (1.5cm).

Leave to cool, then chill.

Serve cut into squares or turn the bowls out onto individual dessert plates.

Sprinkle each serving generously with rosewater and spoon on the powdered sugar.

Baked Turkish Rice Pudding - Firin Sutlac

This is one recipe that you can use the milk left over after making kaymak. It's a favorite and one of my mother's recipes. It's origins are from the Ottoman times and today you can find it at every Turkish pastry shop.

It does take some time to prepare, but it's really easy. And I don't know anybody that has tried it and not liked it.

You don't have to bake or broil it. You can just simply serve it as is. To me it's better when it's broiled. To get a crunchier top you'll be adding an egg yolk as you can see below. You can skip the egg if you don't have it handy, but I strongly suggest you use it.

You can serve it hot or chilled. My preference is chilled. Add some pistachios to the top and Enjoy...:)

BAKED TURKISH RICE PUDDING - FIRIN SUTLAC

Ingredients:
1 lt (32 oz.) milk
1/2 cup white rice, short grain or 'pudding' rice
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup corn flour or corn starch
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg yolk.

Directions:
Soak rice for about 30 minutes. Drain and rinse it. Transfer to a pan and cover with water. Simmer until all water is absorbed.

When water is absorbed add milk, sugar and vanilla. Cook gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Dissolve corn starch in some water and add slowly to the mixture. Keep cooking until bubbles form on the surface. The consistency should be thicker than pouring consistency, but not solid. Which should take about 1 more minute.

Pour into ovenproof ramekins.

Beat one egg yolk and add 1-2 tablespoons of the milk mixture. Mix well and spread it to the tops of the puddings and broil, or bake until tops are browned.

Double Chocolate Orange Pudding

This is a recipe that I have made up trying different recipes for chocolate pudding. It's very easy to make, and it is fast. You'll see that using boxed mixes etc is really not worth it:)

I don't like the vanilla taste too much, so I used Grand Marnier to get an orange flavor, but if you prefer substitute it with vanilla, and don't use orange zest gratings.

It's also great if you serve it accompanying your favorite berries. I love strawberries so I always add a couple next to the pudding. Go crazy with whipped cream on top, maybe with chocolate shavings too:))

I love dark chocolate so I use bittersweet chocolate, but you can use semi-sweet chocolate if you would like. Milk chocolate doesn't really work with these measurements.

You can adjust the thickness of this pudding by changing the cornstarch amount. The original recipe used 3 Tablespoons, but it was too thick for me. It was almost like a filling for a cake. If you prefer it, just adjust the cornstarch, you don't need to adjust any other measurements.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ORANGE PUDDING

Ingredients:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1,5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups light cream
3 ounces chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate
Pinch of orange zest
1 1/2 teaspoons Grand Marnier

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt.

Gradually whisk in 1 cup of the cream until smooth, then whisk in the remaining 1 cup cream. Set the pan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 5 minutes. Continue to whisk and boil for 1 minute.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate, orange zest and Grand Marnier. Let stand for 5 minutes until the chocolate is melted, then stir gently until the pudding is smooth. (Do not stir too much or the pudding might thin out.)

Divide the pudding among 6 small dessert dishes. Let cool for about 20 minutes to serve warm and soft, or chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours.