Semolina pudding with cardamom & orange

From Southern Greece, up to the Ukraine, and over to Great Britain, many Europeans have their own take on semolina pudding – and the Balts are no different. Semolina is used regularly here, whether it be whipped or simply cooked as a porridge and served warm with jam and cream. Inspired by a very old German-Baltic recipe I found, I’ve begun making it the following way, set in the oven with a pleasant caramel-like white chocolate crust.

SERVES 8

1litre whole milk

50g unsalted butter, plus

extra for greasing 2tbsp honey

2tsp ground cardamom 200g fine semolina 4 eggs, separated

150g sugar

50g plain flour

Zest of 1 orange

100g white chocolate, broken into small chunks

2 large pink grapefruit,

peeled and segmented Single cream or vanilla

ice cream, to serve

1 Add the whole milk, unsalted butter, honey and ground cardamom to a heavy-based saucepan. Warm the mixture over a low heat until it begins to steam. Whisk in the fine semolina and continue to cook the mixture for about 2-3min, whisking lightly, until thickened. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

2 Preheat the oven to

170°C/ 150°C fan/gas mark 3-4. Grease and line a 25 × 12cm cake tin with a sheet of baking paper.

3 Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl with the sugar until the mix becomes pale, then fold in the plain flour and orange zest. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form medium peaks. Stir the whipped egg whites and egg yolk mixture into the cooled milk to form a batter.

4 Pour the mixture into the greased and lined cake tin. Bake for about 40min, then remove from the oven. Scatter the white chocolate pieces over the top of the pudding and return it to the oven for a further 8-10min, or until the white chocolate has browned on the edges (keep a close eye on the cake at this point as it can burn easily). Serve warm with the pink grapefruit segments, whipped cream or ice cream, as desired.

COOK’S NOTE

The acidity of the grapefruit is a great match for this pudding but if you’re not keen on it, you could try other fruits such as plums or apples. Fresh berries would also work well, depending on the season.