Recipe: Queen Mab's Pudding

 Another, more-or-less, from the inestimable Jill Norman (which she in turn appears to have taken from Eliza Acton). It's a bavarois. Which will always get points from me - the velvet unctuousness of a standard bavarois* is something we dig into about twice a month in this house, and more complicated variations like Riz a la Imperatrice' are very heaven! This is one such. Light, but without being lightweight. And if you use sucralose rather than sugar (which you can, and it will work perfectly) then the dish fits readily into a low carb regime. 

Why 'Queen Mab'? I have no idea. I think the name came from Eliza Acton. And, why not?

Try and use a relatively complicated mould, as the pudding ought to turn out perfectly, and the more complicated the mould, the finer the pudding will look on the dish. Any silicone mould, properly prepared, should work well.

Ingredients: 600 ml milk; zest from 1 lemon; half a vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract); 15g powdered gelatine; 120g sugar (or equivalent volume sucralose); 300 ml double cream; 6 egg yolks; 50g crystallised peel, chopped; 90g preserved ginger, chopped; 90g chopped pistachios.

Method

1. Grease a 1 litre patterned mould (a baker's release-spray is best for this, or otherwise brush with a neutral oil)

2. In a double boiler, heat the milk gently for about 15 minutes, along with the lemon zest and vanilla pod(if using - if using extract, add this just before leaving the pudding to set)

3. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar (or sucralose), then beat into this the powdered gelatine, before adding the flavoured milk. Mix thoroughly, then return to the double boiler and continue to cook gently for five minutes or so until the mixture visible thickens.

4. Allow the mixture to cool, then fold into it the cream, whisked until dense, along with the chopped nuts, the ginger and the crystallised fruit. Refrigerate to chill, for at least four hours and preferably longer.

5. Unmould onto a dish, to serve. If you like, spoon some of the syrup from the ginger jar over individual servings.

* My standard bavarois recipe: beat four egg yolks with four tbs sugar/sucralose and 2 tsp powdered gelatine; add 10 fl oz heated milk, and cook gently in a double boiler until thick, along with your preferred flavouring agent (e.g 1 tbs of either powdered coffee of powdered chocolate; if using something like a flavoured essence, then wait to add this after the mixture has cooled) once cooled, fold into the mixture 400 ml cream, stiffly whipped, and pour into the mould, chill in the fridge for four hours or more.