Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [270]
Glazed Semolina Pudding
For 6 to 8 servings
Granulated sugar, ½ cup for the caramel plus ⅔ cup for the pudding
A 6-cup round, flameproof metal baking mold
2 cups milk
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup semolina
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon rum
¼ cup assorted candied fruit, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
The grated peel of 1 orange
Heaping ⅓ cup seedless raisins, preferably of the muscat variety, soaking in enough water to cover
All-purpose flour
2 eggs
1. Put ½ cup sugar and 2 tablespoons water in the mold, and bring to a boil on the stove over medium heat. Do not stir, but tilt the mold forward and backward to move the melted sugar until it becomes colored a light nut-brown. Take off heat immediately and quickly tip the mold in all directions, while the caramelized sugar is still liquid, to coat the mold evenly. Keep turning the mold until the caramel congeals, then set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350°.
3. Put the milk and salt in a saucepan and turn on the heat to low. When the milk comes just to the edge of a boil, add the semolina, pouring it in a thin stream, and stirring rapidly with a whisk. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the semolina and milk mixture comes easily away from the sides of the pan. Take off heat, but continue to stir for another half minute or so until you are sure that the semolina mixture is not sticking to the pan.
4. Add the ⅔ cup sugar, stir, then add the butter and rum and stir thoroughly. Add the candied fruit and grated orange peel, stirring to distribute them evenly.
5. Drain the raisins and pat them dry in a cloth towel. Put them in a strainer and sprinkle them with flour while shaking the strainer. When the raisins have been evenly and lightly coated with flour, add them to the mixture in the pan.
6. Break the eggs into the semolina mixture, beating them in rapidly with a whisk. Pour the mixture into the caramelized mold and place it on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake for 40 minutes.
7. Take the pan out of the oven and allow the pudding to cool down. Then refrigerate it overnight. The following day, place the mold briefly on the stove over low heat, just long enough to soften the caramel. Take off heat, place a dish over the top of the mold, grasp the two tightly together with a dish towel, turn them over, and give the pan a few abrupt jerks against the dish until you feel the pudding loosen. Pull the pan away, unmolding the pudding onto the dish.
Glazed Bread Pudding
For 6 to 8 servings
Granulated sugar, 1 cup for the caramel plus ⅓ cup for the pudding
An 8-cup rectangular flameproof, metal cake pan or loaf pan
2½ cups good-quality stale white bread, trimmed of its crust, lightly toasted, and cut up
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter
2 cups milk
½ cup seedless raisins, preferably of the muscat variety, soaking in enough water to cover
All-purpose flour
¼ cup pignoli (pine nuts)
3 egg yolks
2 egg whites
¼ cup rum
1. Put 1 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons water in the pan, and caramelize it, following the directions in Step 1 of the preceding recipe for Semolina Pudding.
2. Preheat oven to 375°.
3. Put the cut-up bread and the butter in a mixing bowl.
4. Put the milk in a small saucepan, turn the heat on to medium, and as soon as the milk forms a ring of tiny bubbles, pour it over the bread and butter. Do not stir, let the bread steep in the milk, and allow it to cool. When cool, beat it with a whisk or a fork until it becomes a soft, uniform mass.
5. Drain the raisins and pat them dry in a cloth towel. Put them in a strainer and sprinkle them with flour while shaking the strainer. When the raisins have been evenly and lightly coated with flour, mix them with the beaten bread mass.
6. Add ⅓ cup sugar, the pine