BUDINO made of chocolate and Autumn fruit

It all started with my purchases at the Queen Victoria Market and the fabulous autumn fruit.

I love persimmons.

I also bought, feijoas, rhubarbpomegranates and quinces. And then I saw some small pears and bought them too.

Friends were coming to dinner and I was unsure about what to make as a dessert.

I thought about making a fresh autumn fruit salad with walnuts, a persimmon crumble or the always a favourite, baked quinces. I then thought that the pears  could be added towards the end of the baking of the quinces .

A chocolate budino rather than a chocolate sauce would go particularly well with the pears.

 

Budino

In 1957 when I came to Australia with my parents my mother used to make budino for dessert. Unlike my Australian friends who had some form of dessert every night (even if it was tinned fruit and ideal milk instead of cream), my Italian family finished off a meal with fresh fruit.

My father would have his small pairing knife and peel fruit for our little family. Desserts were for special occasions and Sunday lunch was considered special, even when we did not have guests.

Although the English translation for budino is pudding, it is nothing like any form of  English pudding, whether steamed or baked.

Basically, budino is a thick custard, cooked on the stove and then allowed to set. We had no moulds, so my mother used to use a clear glass bowl. Our budino was two tone. She made two budini mixtures, one was vanilla and the other was chocolate. The slightly cooled vanilla budino was poured into the glass bowl first and once it was well on the way to setting it was topped with the slightly cooled chocolate budino. Sometimes she even managed to make some swirls. Later she started making apple strudel – Strucolo de pomi – rather than budino for guests.

When we lived in Trieste, if we were eating at home or had guests we always purchased pastries, as did my Sicilian relatives, but in Australia, we did not have access to the same range of pastry shops (we lived in Adelaide). Over time my mother taught herself how to make sweets of a higher standard and budino disappeared from her repertoire.

The budino as prepared by my mother was made of milk, corn flour, sugar, vanilla essence, butter or cream (to enrich it), and egg yolks. A bit like crème anglaise. Most of the recipes for budino do not include egg(s) and unlike many recipes for budino she did not heat the milk before making the custard. It all commenced in a thick bottom saucepan with cold ingredients.

It is dead easy to make and it tastes great.

The cream and butter enrich the budino and if you prefer a leaner version use  less of each or just one.

Chocolate version of budino

3 cups pf whole milk and 1 cup of cream (4 cups = 1 litre)
2 tablespoons of butter, if using unsalted add a pinch of salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 cup corn flour
1-2 egg yolks
150g + dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (add more if you want a stronger taste)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In the saucepan, mix the egg yolk(s), sugar, corn starch and cocoa. Add a little milk and stir to make a paste. Pour in the milk, vanilla and cream and continue to mix, trying to prevent any lumps.

Place the pan with the ingredients on the stove and over medium-low heat keep on stirring until the mixture is thick like custard. Add the butter towards the end.

When it begins to cool, place in the bits of chocolate and stir gently. Some of it will melt into the budino.  if you would like to taste firm chocolate, wait until the budino is cooler before you add the chocolate.

Pour into a mould  (or bowl) and when the mixture is cool, cover it and place it in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, until completely chilled. If you do not want a skin to form on top, use some baking paper or butter wrapper and cover the surface.

Sometimes I pour the budino into  individual small serving bowls or cups or glasses as I do with a mousse. If you are using a mould, the budino can be turned out onto a plate as I would do with a jelly.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Although budino was always presented plain in my childhood, berries and baked fruit is always a good accompaniment.

It keeps well for a few days.

Above, budino with poached rhubarb and apples. Below, with baked pear.

 

BIANCOMANGIARE and GELO

In Sicily, they make Biancomangiare (Blancmange).

it is also called Gelo. This too  is thickened on the stove and set like a budino. It is simpler to make and much less rich.

AUTUMN FRUIT and baked quinces

A Tale about QUINCES

GELO DI MELONE (Jellied watermelon)

CARRUBA (Carob) and its uses

 

MORE AUTUMN PRODUCE… lemons and quinces, wild mushrooms and homemade pasta

The old autumn favourites are back.

I have bought Cime di rapa, sautéed them with Italian pork sausages (chilli flavoured) and ate them with orecchiette and grated, strong, pecorino cheese.

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There were artichokes, fennel and even chicory for sale, and because of the colder weather the heads of red Radicchio seemed firmer than two weeks ago.

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This week one friend dropped off a bag of  fresh lemons from her father’s tree. A generous amount. and a welcome gesture.

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I had a couple of quinces left over from last week and I added  slices of four large lemons when I baked them.  Yet again, I baked the quinces with different flavours. Honey as the sweetener and Tuaca from Livorno –  this is a sweetish, golden brown liqueur, and the ingredients include brandy, citrus essences, vanilla, and other secret spices – probably ordinary simple cinnamon and nutmeg .

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I included quite a few black peppercorns, cinnamon quills and star anise in the mix.

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The lemons turn out like marmalade, only crispy at the edges…I like the texture and intense taste.

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I also added a dash of Vanilla and some water. It is not necessary to use ample amounts of alcohol unless you want to, but probably if you did, the taste would be superb.

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Another surprise, another gift from different friends who live in Red Hill. On their morning walk they collected some saffron coloured, pine mushrooms (Lactarius deliciosus), also called  saffron milk caps and red pine mushrooms. He who works in the city on occasions let me know that he had some for me. The small mushrooms look fabulous left whole and perfect for showing off and the bigger ones get sliced… they are very meaty.

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Holly,  the Cocker Spaniel loves  any opportunity to have her photo taken. She is like Photographer William Wegman’s photographic,  Weimaraner dogs.

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I cooked the mushrooms with garlic, parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary and nepitella and a dash of white wine.

The mushrooms made a flavourful pasta sauce and went well with the home made egg tagliatelle.

Making pasta is easy – 100g of flour per egg. I use hard flour (durum wheat, high protein, the same as I use for making bread).

I used 300g of flour and 3 eggs and this fed two of us with a small bit left over for a snack the next day.

Place the flour in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, crack the eggs into it, add a bit of salt and stir the eggs with a fork.

Use your fingers to mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined.

Knead to make one smooth lump of dough.

You can also make your dough in a food processor –  put everything in, mix with the paddle attachment until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs, then remove the attachment and use your hands and bring the dough together into one lump.

I then divide the large ball into 3 smaller lumps, wrap them in film and put it in the fridge to rest for about 1 hour or so. The approx. 100g quantities balls makes it easier when you roll out the pasta or feed the pasta through the rolling machine. Flattern the ball before you feed it through, do this several times before you use the tagliatelle cutting section of the pasta machine.

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During the week I also made some pasta made with rye flour and with a rolling pin flattened each ball between two pieces of  baking paper. Cut into strips.

Very simple.

Mushrooms and home made Pasta:

WILD MUSHROOMS, I have been foraging again

PASTA WITH MUSHROOMS – Pasta ai funghi

WILD MUSHROOMS – Saffron Coloured, Pine Mushrooms and Slippery Jacks

QUADRUCCI IN BRODO, Squares of home-made Pasta in Broth

GNUCCHITEDDI (Making small gnocchi shapes using my great grandmother’s device)

Pasta with cime di rapa (rape is plural):

ONE OF MY FAVOURITE VEGETABLES – Cime di Rape

PASTA with ‘NDUJA, CIME DI RAPA and PORK SAUSAGES

CIME DI RAPE (A winter green)

About Nepitella:

STUFFED BAKED MUSHROOMS with Nepitella

Quinces:

AUTUMN FRUIT and baked quinces

A Tale about QUINCES

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AUTUMN FRUIT and baked quinces

And this is just some of the Autumn fruit (Victoria, Australia)!  Last week, I bought two other types of my favourite autumn fruit, Figs and Persimmons.

The Prickly Pears  were still around a few weeks ago.

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This week, I bought the Quinces from the Queen Victoria Market, the Pomegranates were dropped off by one of my friends and the next day another friend and neighbour left a bag of the Feijoas (the egg-sized green fruit) and the Strawberry Guavas (the small, round deep magenta coloured fruit)  on my doorstep. All things considered, it was not a bad week.

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I am familiar with all of the fruit except the Strawberry Guavas, soft fruit that taste like strawberries and roses and as aromatic as the Feijoas, that I also love. I first ate Feijoas in New Zealand.

I like to eat these two fruit just as they are.

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Pomegranates are fairly well established in Australia and the ruby moist seeds can be just popped in your mouth to eat, or to juice or use raw in cold food or in cooking, from savoury to sweet dishes.

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Persimmons can also be used in cuisine in savoury and sweet dishes, but once again I just like them as they are – both the vanilla variety  or the squashy ones.

The Quinces are cooked, although I must admit that I also like to nibble on raw Quinces when I cut them to cook. Once again, Quinces are used in both savoury and sweet dishes. Cotognata (quince paste) and Quince jelly are pretty common in Australia but they are mostly eaten baked.

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For someone who writes recipes, i never follow recipes. I get inspired by recipes and then do my own thing, so every time I bake Quinces I do something different.

However, some components are important.

Sweetening is important so I may use sugar, honey, jam or jelly.

I use some sort of acid – wine, oranges, limes or lemons.

Partly finished bottles of alcoholic beverages get drained in there at times, this could be all types of liqueurs, spirits, or wine and sprit based aperitivi (aperitifs) or digestivi (digestives).

Flavourings, like cinnamon or mace bark, star anise, cloves, fennel seeds, bayleaves, black peppercorns. Use water as well as wine –  the proportions are up to you.

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In this batch I used water, white wine, Fejoia jelly (a friend made and I had in my pantry for a while), cinnamon, star anise, cloves, lemon slices and bay leaves.

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Scrub the Quinces first, then quarter them. I do not remove anything – I leave the seeds, membranes and the skins – these miraculously transform the juice into jelly. The liquid should come up to half way up the fruit because they are cooked for along time – 2 hours at 170C. I covered the fruit with foil and took it off about 15 minutes before finishing time.

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This is the result, and I can assure you that the fragrant smell will linger for days in your kitchen.

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More recipes for Quinces:

A Tale about QUINCES

AUTUMN FRUIT Cumquats (Kumquats) and Quinces

MOSTARDA and COTOGNATA – Sweets in Moulds

PRICKLY PEARS Fichi d’India and a paste called Mostarda

AUTUMN FRUIT Cumquats (Kumquats) and Quinces

I do like Cumquats and Quinces – both are Autumn fruit.

The photos were taken at my friends’ house in the south – east of South Australia. Each time that we are together we get productive in her kitchen.

My friend  likes to make preserves – cumquat and whisky marmalade, pickled cumquats and cumquats preserved in brandy. She also makes quince jelly and quince paste. On this particular weekend we used some of her abundant  autumn harvest.

She has the round shaped cumquats. The elongated variety of cumquats are much sweeter and are very good eaten fresh and whole . I like to eat both varieties raw and whole.

Here are photos of some of the methods used to make the cumquats in brandy or Cointreau or a mixture of both. Rum or Whisky is also good.

You could add some extra flavourings if you wish: cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, star anise or glace or crystallized ginger.

The jars and lids will need to be sterilised. You may have your own way to this, for example:

  • Use the hot cycle in your dishwasher
  • cover them with hot water and boil them, for about 10 minutes
  • fill them with boiling water, place them on a baking tray lined with a tea towel and put them into a 110 C oven for about 15 minutes.

Although my friend had several kilos of cumquats, the recipe is based on using 1 kilo of cumquats.

You can use as much alcohol of your choice as you wish, for example a ratio of 3 cups of alcohol to 2 cups of water – adjust according to taste.  You will not necessarily know how much liquid you will need to cover the cumquats in the jars but you can always make more if you run out of the alcohol and water mixture.

Sugar – use 800g per kilo of fruit.

Use only whole fruit that are bright orange in color and have firm, undamaged skins. Make sure that they have stems.

Wash and dry them and remove the leaves. Leave the little green stems, then prick each one a couple of times with a thick needle.

Cover with water and bring them slowly to the boil. Simmer them uncovered for about 10 minutes – the must not collapse.

Drain them carefully and gently – they must remain whole. Reserve the water to use in the alcohol mixture.  Combine water with sugar, bring to the boil and boil for about 5 minutes. Take off the stove, add alcohol and mix well.

Place the fruit gently into the prepared jar. Add some spices or ginger among the cumquats if you wish. Top with the syrup. Do not crowd them too much as they may break. Cover with lids. Allow to stand for at least two weeks before using.

4 quinces,  cinnamon quills,  3  lemons, sliced,
About 200g sugar,
2 cups of water

I wiped the fuzz off the quinces and preheated my oven to 140C (fan-forced). I cut the quinces into quarters and sliced lemons and placed them in between the pieces of quinces.

Added sugar and water.

Covered them with foil and baked for at least 3 hours until quinces are soft and a rich red  – I removed the foil about 15 minutes before they finished cooking.

Jelly ( from the juices) in the left over quinces.

SEE EARLIER POSTS ON QUINCES (click on links):
A Tale about QUINCES
MOSTARDA and COTOGNATA- Sweets in Moulds
PRICKLY PEARS Fichi d’India and a paste called Mostarda

A Tale about QUINCES

There is nothing like baked quinces.

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When cooked slowly (4-5 hours) with sugar or /and honey they they transform from an indeterminate dirty cream, pale green colour to a deep coral. They look beautiful, smell good and taste great.

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Resting in their raw state on a bench or in a fruit bowl, they will also deodorize the environment.

In spite of being cooked for such a long time they retain some of their firmness and hold their shape and do not turn squashy like apples or pears.

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It is an autumnal fruit and although we are nearing the end of winter in Melbourne I bought some recently.  Usually when I buy quinces I buy them loose but each one of these  was individually wrapped in paper and packed firmly in a box. They were labelled as Australian. We are a big country and I would imagine that they would still be found in an other part of Australia. I also imagine that because we can store apples and pears successfully, we would be able to keep quinces in cold storage too.

My yearning for quinces this year began in Nottingham. I was there in early May which is not quince season, but as you may know  anything can be bought out of season in the UK from anywhere in the world.

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These quinces came from Morocco and my friend slowly baked them. These were smoother than any quince I had ever seen and much more round. My friend, Pat, is an Australian living in Nottingham and she agreed with me.

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It is easy to see how Pat prepared her quinces – she cut the quinces horizontally and made neat regular hollows removing the core. Then she placed them upright in a ceramic baking dish she had buttered beforehand. She placed honey and small pieces of butter in the hollowed cores and added a little more butter around the quinces.

Cloves, bay leaves, a little sugar and water and surrounded the quinces. She covered them with foil and baked them at about 150C for about 3hours. The foil came off for the last hour. And the quinces in Nottingham were superb!

While we enjoyed an array of British produce and ate warm quinces  with excellent rich  British cream and drinking Italian liqueurs and Scotch, another happening was going on in her front garden, so you can see what season we were heading into in Nottingham.

Poppies @ Pat's

And very close to their house this was going on in the  small river.

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First we met an egret poised to fish on the water’s edge. Then we saw a swan  sitting on a nest … the companion was floating nearby.  Shortly after we left Nottingham, cygnets hatched and made their parents proud.

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Back to quinces in Melbourne Australia.

Here is what ingredients I used and what I did.

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I wiped the fuzz off the quinces and preheated my oven to 140C (fan-forced).

You can basically flavour quinces with whatever takes your fancy.

I wanted to eat the quinces cold and therefore used no butter.

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INGREDIENTS

3 quinces, star anise, cinnamon quills, cloves, black peppercorns, bay leaves.
1 lemon, zest (grated), peel from 3/4 of an  orange – I used a potato peeler.
About 200g sugar, 100g honey.
1 cup of white wine and 1  cup of water.

I put the spices  and peel and the liquid in a baking dish.

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I cut the quinces in half lengthways and lay them in a baking dish, cut side down, skin side  up. I cored them but did not peel them.

Mine didn’t look as good but they too tasted great.

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I then drizzled them with honey and scattered sugar over them. I them made sure that there was sufficient liquid around the sides of the quinces, but not enough to cover them.  I then  used foil to cover them and I baked them for two hours.

I finished off the cooking for another two hours without the foil.  And it is during this time that magic happens and the colour changes .

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I presented my quinces with some homemade  Mascarpone.

And shortly after we left Nottingham and were on our way to Sicily, the Peonies joined the numerous poppies in the front garden. The good weather had arrived.

Pat's poppy?