KISSABEL® Queen of Puddings
Servings: 6
The unique rosey hue of the KISSABEL® apple, along with its terrifically tart flavour, makes it the ideal pairing for this vibrantly velvety, retro dessert, fit for a queen! Think pillowy-soft meringue, light and bright KISSABEL® puree, plus aromatic nutmeg custard to round out each mouthful. If you can’t find KISSABEL®, Yello® will be an ideal replacement, and a little raspberry jam stirred through for colour wouldn’t go astray. This is a great dessert to make in advance - the stewed apple will keep for 5-7 days, and the custard keeps in the fridge for 2-3 days, so it’s just the meringue you’ll need to make on the day. Feel free to skip the meringue and the custard, and just stew some KISSABEL® to have on your porridge – or do as our 4 year old does, and eat it neat, with a spoon and a smile.
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Ingredients
- 1 kg KISSABEL® apples peeled and quartered, and cut into chunks
- Juice of 1 lemon
Nutmeg custard
- 2 cups 500 ml milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 2 good scrapes nutmeg
- 2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar
Meringue
- 4 egg whites
- 200 g caster (superfine) sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the KISSABEL® apple chunks in a saucepan with the lemon juice, then gently cook over medium heat with the lid on for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the apples don’t stick.
- Separate the eggs and place the whites into a scrupulously clean mixer bowl (stand mixer or hand mixer welcome here).
- Beat the whites until they become fluffy, then add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time until you reach stiff, glossy peaks, which should take about 5 minutes (pinch the mix between your thumb and index fingers, checking to make sure that the sugar has dissolved, which you can tell by the lack of graininess).
- To make the custard, warm the milk and vanilla in a saucepan until just before boiling. As the milk gets close to a simmer, whisk the egg yolks, cornflour, nutmeg and sugar together in a large heatproof bowl.
- Pour the hot milk mixture over the eggs and whisk together until incorporated, then pour the whole lot back into the saucepan and place back over low heat. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon or flexible spatula for 7–10 minutes; the key here is to get the mixture hot, but not to let it boil, or the eggs will curdle. To check that the custard is ready, run your finger through it on the back of your stirring utensil — if the line you’ve drawn in the custard stays straight, and the custard doesn’t immediately drip back into the pan, it’s ready to go. The custard should be the consistency of glue, and will thicken up more as it cools. Place some baking paper over the top of the custard to keep it from forming a skin.
- Once the apples are soft, leave them to cool for 5 minutes, then blend to a fine purée.
- Layer custard on the bottom, apples on top of the custard, and finish with blobs of meringue. Use a torch to burnish the meringue for effect.
Notes
This could be made plant-based by subbing out the custard and finishing with a torched aquafaba meringue on top (ala here)
Alice is a proud Montague Ambassador. Check out my other Montague apple recipes here.
Head to the Montague website and sign up to their mailing list for first dibs at your nearest stockist.
