Easy summer dessert: Japanese pudding (purin)

With the hot, humid weather, and Hiro's  continuing late nights,  easy to digest midnight snacks are on the menu here more often than not.  One of the regulars is Japanese pudding, a Japanese creme caramel which is lighter and less sweet that the French version.  It's quick, easy and works reliably.

In the muffin tin

Ready to eat

Purin recipe


Part 1 is caramelised sugar, part 2 is the pudding.

Sugar syrup
100g white sugar
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/french/classic-creme-caramel.html

Follow Delia's instructions but add more water  at the end.  It should be about the same texture as maple syrup.

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Pudding


Heat oven to 170 degrees

2 cups (500ml) of milk
2/3 cup (150g)  sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs (lightly beaten)

Warm the milk, add sugar, still until dissolved.
Add vanilla
Add the eggs slowly, stirring.  Mix thoroughly.
Scoop out any little bubbles that form on the top.

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Scoop 2-3mm thickness of sugar syrup into buttered containers.(I use individual muffin tins)
Scoop pudding mixture on top till the muffin tin is almost full.

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Put muffin tins on a deep tray with 1cm of water in it.
Cook for 40 mins (or until cooked) in a 170 C. oven.

Cool and refrigerate before serving.

+ The pudding part of the recipe seems to vary little between Japanese recipe sites - here is one

http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesedessertsweet/r/custardpudding.htm   (with a picture) Delia's instructions for the sugar syrup are much much better.


++ http://blog.gourmetrecipe.com/2011/02/21/homemade-table-syrup-the-frugally-delicious-version/
This also works well - and is much much easier to manage than the heated sugar type.