Almond, apple and rum fruit pudding

I like the frugal nature of puddings that use up stale bread. For this one, it’s essential. You can make breadcrumbs by pulsing crustless semi-stale bread in a food processor until very crumbly. Store-bought dry breadcrumbs simply won’t work.

Credit: Alan Benson

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 75 g (⅓ cup) demerara or other raw sugar, plus 55 g (¼ cup) extra, to sprinkle
• 250 ml (1 cup) milk
• 105 g (about 1½ cups) stale breadcrumbs
• 2 large apples, peeled, cored
• 100 g raw almonds, lightly roasted (see Note) and pulsed in a food processor until a mix of fine and chunky
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp dark rum
• pouring cream or custard, to serve

Standing time 15 minutes

You will need a 20 cm x 4 cm-deep pie dish or similar for this recipe.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180°C. Rub sides of a 20 cm x 4 cm-deep pie dish or similar with a tiny amount of butter and sprinkle lightly with caster sugar.

Whisk the eggs and demerara sugar in a bowl with a generous pinch of salt until evenly mixed, then stir in the milk. Add the breadcrumbs and set aside for 15 minutes.

Slice the apples and lay over the base of prepared pie dish, pressing down well. Mix the almonds, zest and rum into the milk mixture, then pour evenly over the apples, pressing down a little if need be to make it relatively flat. Sprinkle the extra 55 g sugar over the top and bake pudding for 30 minutes until top is crusty and golden. Serve warm or at room temperature with cream. It’s not bad straight out of the fridge the next day, too.

Note

• Roasting nuts - prehead oven to 180°C. Place nuts in a small oven tray and roast, stirring halfway, for 10 minutes or until golden brown. If roasting hazelnuts, rub between your hands once cooled to remove skins.

Photography Alan Benson

As seen in Feast magazine, October 2013, Issue 25. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.