Caramel Pudding without Readymade Mix :)

I wanted to impress & pamper Kalyan today and wanted to boost his spirits, not the alcoholic ones :) So what better way to impress a man than through his stomach. There sitting in my balcony, I wondered what could make him fall in love with me all over again.

Eureka, I cracked it. Ofcourse, his favourite dessert - the Caramel Pudding. But alas I couldn't find my Weikfield readymade mix to make the caramel pudding. So, what else... I chanted 'Google aya namaha' & started the recipe finding mission.

Did you know that Caramel Flan is same as Creme Caramel / Caramel Pudding?? Anyway, google gave me 'n' no. of recipes most of which required 'condensed milk' or 'evaporated milk'. Since I didn't have either, I worked with what I had - which is Milk, Milk powder, Sugar, Eggs & Vanilla Essence.

So here is how I did it..

Ingredients:

For Pudding:

1/2 litre milk

4 tbsp milk powder

1.5 tsp Vanilla Essence

5 tbsp Sugar

3 Eggs

For Caramel topping:

2 tbsp Sugar

1 tsp butter

Mix milk, milk powder & sugar and bring it to boil. Constantly stir to avoid milk getting burnt in the bottom. After the milk mixture boils, simmer for 5-7 minutes until the mix thickens a bit. Let the mix cool down.

Whisk 3 egg whites separately till fluffy. Add the egg yolks & vanilla essence and whisk again. Fold this mixture into the cooled down milk mix.

Heat the mould which you are going to use for baking the caramel on stove. Put 2 tbsp Sugar & the butter. Sugar would brown & melt in a few minutes. Take it off the stove & spread the caramel nicely at the bottom. Allow the mould to cool down.

Pour the milk/egg mix into the mould & cover it with an aluminum foil. Bake the pudding in a water bath at 200 deg cel. for 15-20 mins. For water bath - Place the mould in another dish & pour water in the lower dish. The pudding gets cooked in boiling water.

Allow the custard to cool & refrigerate till serving. To serve, invert the custard mould onto a plate. If you use a non-stick mould, the custard comes clean without have to run a knife around the edges :)

The end result was just delicious. If you need proof, just drop-in. I'll be happy to bake for you :)