It's been such a fun week.
As you all know, last week I shot my first wedding of the year. It was a gorgeous day, and we had the perfect weather for it. Bruce helped out and together we ended up with 2500 images between us. Thank goodness for memory cards and digital cameras... can you imagine trying to shoot a wedding with film?! I'm just going through the photos now, deleting some of the blurred ones, and I've highlighted 190 that could end up in the final cut, but might need further culling. Bruce has done the same, and together, we should end up with roughly 300 photos.
The weather has been glorious for the past 4 days, and we should be getting a high of 30˚C today in London. The summer heat makes me think of my childhood and this pudding is one of those things I always associate with gorgeous hot weather. It's so easy to make and the flavour combination of the vanilla with the strawberries and the strawberry syrup is one that can't be described easily.
I don't know how many of you know about this recipe, but every German that's worth their weight in pudding knows the basic recipe to this by heart. It's something you just grow up with. Making the strawberry syrup was always the fun part for me, watching all that strawberry juice ooze out of the strawberries by just adding sugar. As for that flavour, it's what I imagine liquid gold to taste like, better than any honey, and in combination with the vanilla, leaves you with the satisfaction of a taste bud sensation like no other.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on some Gariguette strawberries from a French market that came to London for the weekend selling all sorts of gorgeous fresh French produce - it's one of the highlights of summer and one I look forward to every year. Gariguette strawberries are one of the most flavoursome strawberries - but of course you don't have to use Gariguettes, you can use absolutely any strawberries for this recipe.
I also meant to buy some strawberry plants for my window boxes and can you imagine what a delightful surprise I had when I saw plants with pink flowers? The hybrid is called Red Ruby and I can't wait until it starts bearing fruit. Although I wish it would just keep flowering all year round.
German Vanilla Pudding With Sugared Gariguette Strawberries (printable version)
100g caster sugar
90g cornflour
1tsp vanilla paste
1 litre whole milk
250g Gariguette strawberries
6tbsps sugar
1. Prepare 3 medium sized bowls by running them under cold water and setting them to one side making sure they're still slightly wet inside.
2. From the 1 litre of milk, place 12 tablespoons in a bowl. Add the rest of the milk to a deep pan and bring to the boil over a medium to high heat.
3. In the meantime, mix the 12 tablespoons of milk with the sugar, cornflour and vanilla until a smooth, runny paste forms. If there are any clumps, keep mixing, and they should dissolve.
4. Once the milk in the pan starts to bubble, remove from the heat, and whisk in the vanilla paste mixture. It should thicken immediately.
5. Place pan back onto the heat and keep whisking. Allow to bubble for 1 minute then remove from heat and pour into the cold bowls set aside earlier (don't forget to lick the pan clean!). Allow to cool at room temperature first before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
6. While the pudding is cooling, cut the strawberries into quarters, place in a bowl and sprinkle the 6 tablespoons of sugar on top. Mix carefully. Cover with a plate and set aside at room temperature. Give it a gentle mix every hour throughout the 4 hours that the pudding is cooling.
7. To serve, place a plate over a bowl of pudding and turn upside down. The pudding should easily slide onto the plate, maintaining it's shape. Top with the sugared strawberries and cover in strawberry juice.
Tips:
- To avoid a skin forming on top of the pudding, place a sheet of cling film over the still warm pudding just after you've poured it into the bowl, before allowing to cool.
- As an alternative you can serve the pudding warm as a custard drizzled over a bowl of strawberries.
- Try using different shaped moulds for the pudding. You can also add colouring or different flavours.
