Pineapple Pudding with Coconut Custard Cream

Pudding is one of my favorite foods from English cuisine. With that look and texture somewhere between flan and sponge cake, I think it’s a great option for an elegant, tasty, light dessert (or at least not as heavy as other desserts) that you can finish off with whatever ingredients you have at home.

Today, we make a Pineapple upside-down pudding, a tropical flavor that rounds off any Sunday meal beautifully.

Can you make it? with fresh pineapple or pineapple in syrup, which makes it an ideal recipe to handle any occasion.

When serving, we suggest a coconut custard cream, another tropical ingredient that pairs perfectly with pineapple, and that will add smoothness and creaminess to the pudding.

Is it a pudín or a budín?

Pudding or budín is a dish that can be sweet or savory, made with various mixed ingredients, among which are bread or another type of cake batter mixed with eggs and milk, and it is set in a water bath.

You can call it pudding in any case, but it is called "pudding" especially if it is sweet.

Upside-down pudding, today’s recipe

To make a pineapple pudding, we can incorporate the fruit into the mixture (that is, cut the pineapple into small pieces and mix it with the other ingredients. If doing so, for el higher weight within the liquid mixture, it’s common for the pineapple pieces to settle at the bottom of the container where the pudding is cooked, leaving a denser base, which is nice because you can see a sort of two-layer pudding, with a more light throughout the pudding and denser at the base.

But you can make a upside-down pudding, placing the pineapple pieces at the bottom of the container and pouring the egg mixture on top, so that after baking you will unmold the pudding and, when you turn it over, the pineapple pieces will be on top.

For this purpose, to be able to turn out the pudding and make sure it hasn't stuck, it's interesting to use a non-stick mold. You can use the KitchneCraft mold for flans and puddings or, as is the case today, make the most of the Le Creuset Nonstick Chef's Pan, which, being high-capacity, with tall sides and oven-safe, is ideal for this recipe (also, thanks to its handle you can invert the cake to unmold it easily. In addition, it distributes heat very well and evenly, and you’ll see that despite being a completely wet batter it will be set and ready in under an hour.

Chef Pro Frying Pan with Pouring Spout and Steel Lid Le Creuset

Ingredients

For the sauce

• 80 g of brown sugar
• 80 g of butter
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 45 ml of spiced rum
• 7 pineapple rings (canned or fresh)
• 7 star anise (for decoration and aroma only)

For the cake

• 200 g of butter
• 200 g of brown sugar
• 4 medium eggs
• 200 g self-rising flour
• 1 level tsp of baking powder
• 45 ml of spiced rum

For the coconut custard (optional accompaniment)

• 15 g of corn flour
• 25 g of powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 3 egg yolks
• 410 g of coconut milk

Preparation

For making pineapple pudding:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
2. First, prepare the caramel sauce required for the base. To do this, place the brown sugar, the butter, the allspice, and the rum in the Chef 24 cm Nonstick Frying Pan and bring them to a boil, for 2 minutes over medium heat. You’ll see how the sugar and butter combine and brown, and you’ll get a golden caramel. Make sure it doesn’t burn (when it starts to turn golden, turn off the heat and it will finish browning with the residual heat). Let it cool a little in the pan.
3. Holding the pan by the handle, tilt it and move it up and down and side to side so the still-hot caramel spreads over the bottom and sides.
4. Arrange the pineapple rings over the bottom of the pan, bathing the rings in the sauce. Place a star anise in the center of each pineapple ring.
5. To make the pudding, in a large bowl add the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, and rum. Mix with a hand whisk for 5 minutes (you can do it in the KitchneAid stand mixer, in 2 minutes), until a smooth batter forms.
6. Slowly pour the pudding mixture into the pan over the pineapple rings, and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes to settle and cool down.
8. After that time, place a large plate over the pan and invert the pan with a quick turn to unmold the pudding.

For making coconut custard:

1. Once the pudding is removed, wash the Le Creuset Chef's Pan and dry it.
2. In a small bowl, add the cornstarch, sugar, vanilla paste, and egg yolks. Whisk vigorously until you have a smooth mixture (if you’re using a shaker with rounded tips, you'll avoid lumps more easily).
3. Add the coconut milk to the pan and gently heat over medium heat. When it’s hot, just before the milk boils, pour a few tablespoons of that hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk (what we want is to warm the egg a little so it starts to come up to temperature without curdling in the next step).
4. Add all the egg mixture to the pan, along with the remaining milk. Let it heat up and keep whisking (if you use a silicone-tipped whisk, you won’t damage the nonstick). Whisk continuously over medium heat; you’ll see the sauce begin to thicken.
5. Just before it boils and once it has thickened, remove the sauce from the heat and, taking advantage of the pan’s pouring spouts, pour the sauce into a sauce boat or a ramekin to serve it at the table.