Plain pudding

 I thought I'd make myself something cool and refreshing for dessert last night. After a quick browse through the remaining cold desserts, I selected ice cream pudding (p203). Just the thing for a hot Summer's evening!

Unfortunately, though you're making a cold dessert, you actually have to stand over the stove for a while. Not ideal, but other than that, it's very straightforward. You cream butter and sugar, stir in flour, then egg. Put the creamed mixture in a pot with milk and heat gently, stirring until the mixture thickens. Once you've taken it off the heat, stir through vanilla, pour into serving dish(es) and chill until set.


This is a recipe of fairly modest proportions - doubly so when you make a half-recipe like I did. I would have made a whole one but didn't have enough milk. Even so, there was still enough to make two reasonable-sized portions.

It didn't take long to set, so within half an hour I was able to try my ice cream pudding. It was sweet and creamy, though very plain. It was pleasant to eat, but by the time I'd finished my serving, I was a bit sick of it. The texture was similar to a custard (in fact, the flavour was not dissimilar either) but was marred by a thick skin on the top. I'd recommend covering the surface with plastic wrap or something to prevent this.


I've since eaten the second portion, much improved by the addition of stewed rhubarb, spooned in a generous layer on top (but didn't take a photo, sorry). The pudding itself remains the same; it's just you get a small amount of tart, acidic rhubarb with each mouthful, which cuts through the creaminess and prevents it from being too cloying.

This is an alright pudding, particularly if you happened to have milk that needed using up or something, but I definitely recommend serving it with rhubarb.