Portuguese pudding (halaal version)

And now for something completely different - my favourite recipes. This one is for a steamed pudding that turns out like a flan, but richer, thicker, and.. well.. YUMMIER! You will be surprised to know this is a BREAD pudding - "Pudim de pao"

So here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
4 eggs
200g sugar
500ml milk
5 slices of white bread
1 table spoon lemon juice
liquid caramel (or make your own, easy to do.. )
one slice of lemon rind (I just slice a quarter slice off the skin)


Method:
Remove the crust from the bread.
In a pot, place the milk, the bread and the lemon rind. Bring it to the boil, stirring continuously so that it does not burn. As soon as it starts to boil remove from the heat.
Remove the lemon skin and blend the milk/bread mixture until smooth and creamy.

In another dish, beat the eggs
Add the milk/bread mix. 
Mix well.
Add the sugar and lemon juice
Mix well.

Take a puding mould and coat it in caramel. Alternatively, melt a cup of sugar over medium heat until golden and use that to coat the pudding mould OR a normal cake tin.
Once coated, pour the pudding batter in carefully so as not to dislodge too much of the caramel - this is where the carmelised sugar works better!

If using a puding mould:
Place pudding mould into a large pot, and cover. Pour enough water into the pot to reach half way up the pudding mould. close the pot and cook for about 25 - 30 minutes. Open and check if cooked - once cooked, the pudding will be firm and well set, but not dry. If it sinks, you've cooked it too long!

If using a cake mould:
Once you've poured the pudding batter into the carmelised tin, cover the cake tin with an old pot lid or heat proof plate and place the tin into a large pyrex dish - fill the pyrex with enough water to reach half-way up the cake tin. Allow to cook until firm and well set, but not dry. If it sinkss in the middle you've cooked it too long.

ONCE COLD - turn out into a deep plate, as the caramel should be runny over the set, firm pudding. Serve cold, and always, always pour some of the caramel from around the pudding over the slice!
YUM!