CHOCOLATE FOR EASTER (AND PASSOVER TOO)

 

This chocolate-almond torte is a perfect dessert for Easter, Passover, or any special occasion.

My all-time favorite dessert, the Santiago Almond Torte, got a makeover for Easter. I added chocolate. While searching for similar almond torte recipes, I came across a bunch that were special for Passover, the Jewish spring festival that often coincides with Easter. Just swap matzah meal for the flour or cookie crumbs in the basic recipe. So this is a dessert perfect for both holidays.

This version, adapted from The Settlement Cook Book by Mrs. Simon Kander (1942?), calls for raisins as well as chocolate. Do not skip this ingredient! Soaked in sweet wine, the raisins add a wonderful fruitiness to the deep chocolate flavor. (Because I have my own dietary restrictions, I used no-sugar-added chocolate [Valor brand, sweetened with malitol]; no-sugar cookie crumbs [also sweetened with mailitol, Gullón brand], and zero-calorie “baking sugar alternative” [King Arthur brand].) 

The torte has no added fat, so serving it with whipped cream, Greek yogurt, or vanilla ice cream enhances. If you prefer no dairy, try a tart raspberry sauce with the torte.

A pretty dessert for the holiday table.

Whipped cream or thick yogurt enhances the torte.

Chocolate-Almond Torte

Torta de Chocolate con Almendras

Toasting and grinding the almonds gives a pleasing texture to the finished torte. However, you could substitute almond flour. Use any plain cookie for the crumbs—galletas María, vanilla wafers, graham crackers. Use any combination of dark chocolate and unsweetened cocoa to make approximately 4 ounces of chocolate. Use a food processor to grind the almonds and cookie crumbs and to chop the chocolate. The raisins, almonds, cookie crumbs, and chopped chocolate can be prepped a day in advance of baking.

In separating eggs, to prevent breaking a yolk into the whites, separate the white into a small ramekin. Drop the yolk into a mixing bowl, then pour the white from the ramekin into another clean mixing bowl. Should one of the yolks break into the white, add the whole egg to the bowl with the yolks to avoid mixing any yolk into the whites. 

Makes 10-12 servings.

½ cup raisins

¼ cup sweet wine such as PX Sherry

6 ounces blanched almonds (1 ¼ cups)

2 ounces plain cookies or matzah meal (½ cup)

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (¾ cup) 

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

5 large eggs, separated

¼ teaspoon vinegar

½ cup sugar

Powdered sugar to serve (optional)

Raspberries to decorate (optional)

Place raisins in a small bowl and add the wine. Let them soak at least 2 hours.

Spread almonds on a rimmed baking sheet. Place them in the oven and turn oven on to 400ºF. When oven reaches temperature, stir the almonds and roast them 5 minutes longer or until pale gold in color. They do not need to toast. Remove and let the almonds cool. Turn the oven temperature to 350ºF. (If not continuing with the recipe, turn off the oven.) 

Line pan with parchment.

Grind the almonds in a food processor as finely as desired. Grind the cookies finely. Combine the chopped chocolate with the cocoa.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with baking parchment. Oil the sides. 

Place the egg whites in a clean bowl and beat them until they hold stiff peaks. Beat in the vinegar.

Fold whites into batter.

Place the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and beat them until pale and creamy, 3 minutes. Beat in the sugar. Stir in the raisins soaked in wine. Fold in the ground almonds, cookie crumbs or matzah meal, and chocolate with cocoa. Add ¼ of the beaten egg whites and stir them into the batter until thoroughly mixed. Add the remaining whites and fold them in until no trace of whites remains. Pour the batter into the springform pan. Bake until a skewer comes out clean, about 40 minutes. 

Let the torte cool in the pan. Loosen the edges of the torte with a thin knife and remove the rim of the pan. Lift the torte off the pan bottom. Slide it off the parchment onto a serving plate. Before serving sift powdered sugar on top, if desired, and decorate with a few raspberries.

More recipes for almond torte:

Santiago Almond Torte

No-Sugar Almond Torte

Gluten-Free Chocolate-Almond Cake

Annie's Flourless Almond-Chocolate Cake

View from my desk--wisteria and mimosa in bloom. 

 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times.  (Hippocrene Books)    

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DECADENT (SUGAR-FREE) FINALE TO 2025

Luscious turrón mousse to finish the year.

 

Looking ahead to festive dining on New Year’s, before the inevitable January diet, I am planning a meal a little decadent, luxurious with calories. I’ll throw some foie gras into the serving of black-eyed peas, flambé the tenderloin with fine brandy, and, for dessert, indulge in a rich mousse of cream and turrón, almond nougat candy.

It’s a rich dessert, no matter how you figure. But I am making it with no sugar! I found sugar-free versions of both the crunchy-hard Alicante and the fudgy-soft Jijona turrón that are made with sweeteners such as malitol and sorbitol. You might even like them better than the original, sugar-laden turrón! The mousse requires no gelatin and is absolutely simple to prepare. 

If sugar-free is not your thing, you can make the recipe with regular soft turrón containing sugar. Look for Spanish turrón at specialty food shops or order from LaTienda.

A layer of cookie crumbs (crushed polvorones) forms the base for the cream. Toppings of grated dark chocolate, chopped salted almonds, or ground cinnamon. Or, why not? all three. 

Luscious and so easy to make.

Almond Nougat Mousse

Espuma de Turrón

Crumbled polvorón.

Use whipping cream that has been well-chilled. Chill the bowl and beaters by placing them in the freezer 30 minutes before whipping the cream. If desired, sugar or sugar substitute can be beaten into the cream. 

A layer of crumbled cookies (polvorones*) make a base for the creamy mousse. Use any cookie crumbs if polvorones are not available. Once the mousse has been scooped into dessert cups, sprinkle the tops with grated dark chocolate (look for sugar-free chocolate), chopped fried almonds, ground cinnamon, or all three! Cover the cups with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. 

Soft turrón mashes easily.

Makes 5 (½ -cup) servings

 

8 ounces (Philadelphia) cream cheese, room temperature

1 (150-gram/ 5 ¼- ounce) bar of (sugar-free) soft almond turrón, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon rum or Brandy de Jerez

Pinch of salt

1 cup whipping cream, chilled

Sugar or sugar-substitute (optional)

1-2 (sugar-free) polvorones (crumbly cookies) 

Topping: grated dark chocolate, ground cinnamon, or chopped salted almonds

Combine the cream cheese, turrón, vanilla, rum, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth. 

In a chilled bowl, whip the cream until stiff adding sugar/substitute, if desired. Whisk a spoonful of the cream cheese-turrón mixture into the cream then gently fold the remainder into the cream. 

Crush the polvorones and place a spoonful in the bottom of 5-6 dessert cups. Spoon the mousse mixture into the cups. Top them, as desired, with chocolate, cinnamon, and/or chopped almonds.

Cover the dessert cups with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

*Polvorones are a popular Andalusian Christmas cookie confected of lard, sugar, ground almonds, and flour. Their name means "powdery" because they easily crumble to bits. See more about polvorones and the similar mantecados here.

***   ***   ***

Here are more suggestions for New Year dining:

Almond Nougat Mousse This version is with eggs and gelatin (and I see that I used the same dessert cups!)

Salmon with Cava Sauce and Grapes

Smoked Trout Timbale

Vegetarian Pâté

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Consommé of Quail and Wild Mushrooms

Duck Breast with Clementine Sauce

Black-Eyed Peas for Good Fortune in the New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS 

The Culinary Legacy of Spain

FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain. Here's a fresh angle on the traditional cooking of Spain, with 120 recipes that trace their roots to Moorish Spain. See below for where to order. 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)    

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PLUM GOOD

 

Four varieties of plums go into this galette. The small green Claudias, although not quite ripe, had the most complex flavor--sweet, tart, and floral. The big dark purple plums (a vendor at my local market called them huevo de toro, "bull's balls") were juicy and sweet. The big yellows were juicy but lacking in flavor. The smaller red plums with yellow-green flesh were, to my taste, the best with tangy skin and sweet flesh.

Seduced by the jewel-like colors, I could not resist buying a bagful of plums. I intended to stage a taste-test to decide which variety I liked best. But instead I combined them all, from the tiny green Claudias to the big red plums in a galette pastry crust.

Galette is a free-form pie. This one filled with plums has a crust spiced with aniseeds.

Galette is a French word for a freeform pie, a rustic tart in which the fruit is heaped in the center of a round of pastry dough which is then folded up over the fruit. You can make a galette with any favorite pie crust dough, with buttery pâte brisée, or storebought pasta quebrada. 

My version, made with an olive oil dough, is inspired by those beloved tortas de aceite, crisp olive oil “cookies,” with their subtle flavors of aniseed and sesame.** (A few weeks ago I used the tortas as a base for a quickie dessert—fruit heaped on top of the tortas, topped with whipped cream, and drizzled with caramel sauce.) This pie crust is super fast to mix up, but it does need time to chill before rolling. 

**There is a recipe for making tortas de aceite in my new cookbook, FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS.

Plum Galette with Aniseed

Ciruelas en Tarta Rústica con Matalahúga 

Use any variety of plum, from eight to twelve depending on size, and more or less sugar, depending on their tartness. The galette is good hot or cold, accompanied by whipped cream, Greek yogurt, or ice cream.

Serves 4-5.

8-12 plums

1 cup all-purpose flour + additional for rolling out dough

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon aniseeds

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1 egg yolk 

3 tablespoons olive oil 

4-5 tablespoons ice water

2 tablespoons almond flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1-2 tablespoons granulated sugar (optional)

Halve the plums and remove pits. 

Combine 1 cup flour, salt, baking powder, aniseeds and sesame in a mixing bowl. Combine the egg yolk, oil and 4 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Whisk to mix them.

Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yolk-oil-water mixture. Gradually stir the flour into the liquid ingredients to make a soft dough. Add additional water if necessary. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured board and gently knead just to combine the ingredients well. Gather the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl. Cover with a clean cloth. Chill the dough at least 1 hour. (The dough can be prepared a day in advance, wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated.) 

Fold dough up over the fruit.

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Roll the dough out thinly on a lightly floured work surface to a circle about 14 inches in diameter. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll it onto the baking parchment. Sprinkle it with the almond flour. 

Combine the plum halves and cornstarch. Place the plums, skin-side up, in the center of the dough leaving a 1 ½ -inch border around them. Sprinkle the plums with 1 tablespoon of sugar, if using. Fold the border of dough up over the plums, pleating the dough as needed. Sprinkle with remaining sugar if desired.

Bake until the plums are bubbling and the pastry crust is golden, about 40 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Serve galette with a dollop of Greek yogurt.

More ideas for using plums:

 

Pork Tenderloin with Plum Sauce.

Plum Ice Cream

Purple Plum Chutney

***   ***   ***

FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS 

The Culinary Legacy of Spain

This new cookbook has menus and recipes for Tapas Party, Brunch, Summer Barbecue, Family Dinners (including vegetarian), Sunday Lunch, Dinner Party, Spring Holiday Meal, and Autumn/Winter Holiday Meal. From your favorite bookseller or click below to order. 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)    

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FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS by Janet Mendel is the #1 New Release in Spanish Cooking on Amazon!

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TWEAKING THE RECIPES

 Do you follow recipes exactly? Or, like most of us, do you embellish, adapt, substitute or otherwise make a recipe your own? 

When I was testing recipes for my new cookbook Flavors of al-Andalus, I tried to be very specific and accurate even though I know full well that most cooks will make changes.  And, full disclosure—I do it too! 

Having invited friends to Sunday lunch, I opened my new cookbook, FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain, and picked a few recipes suitable for a sizzling August day. 

How about chilled gazpacho? The recipe for Winter Gazpacho with Oranges did not sound exactly seasonal for late August. I just happened to have a bag of oranges that needed to be used and I could swap luscious fresh figs for the dried ones that the recipe called for. <<<

Served chilled, this version of gazpacho was perfect for a hot August lunch. I used fresh figs instead of dried, added sliced radishes for crunch.<<< Just a little tweaking, otherwise the recipe is straight from the book. (See below for a more radical tweak.)

Like all gazpacho, this one starts with an emulsion of bread, garlic, and extra virgin olive oil. It has oranges and lettuce added. Other versions have only cucumbers.  Or tomatoes.

Fideo Noodles with Octopus, a pasta paella with seafood, sounded like a good choice for pescatarian guests. But, in fact, most of my pescatarian acquaintances refuse to eat octopus. (Re.: the film “My Octopus Teacher.”) Maybe I should have thought of that when compiling recipes for the book, but I do make the point throughout that you can always change up the ingredients, tweak the recipes to your tastes. So I used squid and anglerfish instead of octopus. <<<

Stock and sofrito are the base that gives Spanish paella and pasta dishes so much flavor. In this day and age sofrito is made with tomatoes slowly fried in olive oil. But the recipes in the book contain no tomatoes! That’s because tomatoes come from the New World and were unknown in Moorish Spain. But we don’t live in Moorish Spain and I had plenty of tomatoes. Should I use them?

No. I made the sofrito as given in my recipe—carrots add bulk and color, a spoonful of vinegar or wine gives a tangy flavor boost. It was perfect, deeply flavorful. 

Sunday lunch: Beatrice serves fideo noodles with fish, shrimp, and vegetables.

Fideo Noodles with Octopus

Cazuela de Fideos con Pulpo

The recipe in Flavors of al-Andalus calls for cooked octopus (and even tells how to cook it). But you can change the octopus for fish or squid.<<<

Fideos are thin, round noodles, the sort you might put in chicken-noodle soup. They range in thickness from threads of angel’s hair to spaghetti-like cords. The name comes from the Arabic, fidaush, which means fresh pasta (the Arabic word for dried pasta is itriyya).

Fideos have been toasted.

The method of cooking fideos is quite different from Italian-style pasta dishes. The dried pasta is usually toasted in olive oil. And rather than cooking it in a pot of boiling water, the fideos cook right in the sauce, soaking up the flavors. For this recipe, use thick fideos, designated grueso or no.4. If fideos are not available, substitute spaghetti broken into short lengths.

You will need stock both for the sofrito and for cooking the noodles. Use a simple stock made from fish trimmings and shrimp shells or store-bought stock. (There is a recipe for Simple Fish Stock in Flavors of al-Andalus or in this blog post.  

For the sofrito

Makes 1 cup sofrito, half of which is needed for the noodle recipe.

Sofrito after blending.

¼ cup olive oil

1 ½ cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped carrots

3 cloves chopped garlic 

¼ cup chopped fennel bulb (optional)

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar

¼ cup water, chicken, or fish stock

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Herbs (optional)

Heat the oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, garlic, and fennel, if using, and sauté for 15 minutes or until the onions are golden and beginning to brown. Add the parsley, vinegar, and water or stock. Add salt to taste, ½ teaspoon if using water. Season with pepper and herbs, if desired. Cover and cook the mixture 5 to 10 minutes, until the carrots are soft enough to mash.

Transfer the mixture to a mini food processor and process until the sauce is fairly smooth. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 6 months.   

To cook the fideo noodles

>>>You can substitute pieces of squid or firm-fleshed fish such as angler or halibut for the octopus.

Serves 4

¼ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 ounces whole shrimp, peeled, heads and tails reserved

1 pound thick (#4) fideo noodles or spaghetti broken into 1 ½- inch pieces

1 ½ cups sliced asparagus from a 10-ounce bunch

½ cup sofrito (recipe above)

¼ cup white wine

5 cups octopus cooking water or fish stock 

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

½ cup shelled peas

8 ounces cooked octopus tentacles

Sprigs of mint to serve

Sliced lemon to serve

Place the saffron in a small bowl and add ¼ cup hot water. Let it infuse 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in a cazuela, paella pan, large skillet or flat-bottomed wok over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp heads and shells and fry them, pressing on the heads to extract the flavorful juices. When the shells begin to brown, remove the pan from the heat, tip it so the oil runs to one side, and lift out the heads and shells. (The fried shrimp shells and heads can be added to stock or discarded.)

Add the fideo noodles and asparagus to the oil remaining in the pan and fry them, stirring, on medium heat until the noodles just begin to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the sofrito, wine, and saffron water. Stir to combine well. Add the octopus cooking water or fish stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer the noodles 10 minutes. >>>I toasted the fideos and skimmed them out before sautéing the pieces of fish and asparagus. I stirred in the sofrito, returned the fideos to the pan, then added the stock and continued with the recipe.

Stir in the peas and shrimp. Place the cooked octopus tentacles on top of the noodles. Cook until noodles are al dente, 5 to 8 minutes. Add sprigs of mint, cover the pan with foil or a cloth and let the noodles sit 5 minutes.

Serve the noodles in the pan garnished with sprigs of mint and lemon slices. Use scissors to cut the octopus into bite-size pieces. 

The fideos I served to guests has monkfish, small pieces of cooked squid, shrimp, asparagus, peas, and artichoke hearts from a jar. 

(Winter) Gazpacho with Oranges—with the addition of sliced avocado and shrimp.<<<  Use dried figs instead of fresh ones, change the summery colors for winter ones and this would make a gorgeous starter for Christmas dinner when oranges and avocados are in season. 

Dessert was a nod to a recipe in Flavors of al-Andalus. Tortas de aceite—crispy olive oil cookies—formed the base of a sort of napolean dessert with sliced peaches, cream, and caramel sauce. There is a recipe for the tortas in Flavors of al-Andalus. Only I didn’t bake these; I bought packaged Inés Rosales® tortas. (The peaches were macerated in oloroso Sherry. The cream was equal parts whipped cream and cream cheese with vanilla and grated lemon peel--no sugar. The caramel sauce was straight out of a squeeze-bottle.) 

*** *** ***

My new cookbook,

FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain, published by Hippocrene Books, is available from your favorite bookseller. For more about what’s in the book, see Meatballs with Backstory. 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)    

 Order on IndiePubs

Use PROMO CODE HIPPOCRENE40 for 40% off on all Hippocrene titles at IndiePubs online bookstore.

***

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A HOLIDAY PUDDING FROM GALICIA

 

This bread pudding is chock full of fruits and nuts, a perfect holiday dessert.

Searching my favorite Galician cookbook (Cociña Galega by Álvaro Cunqueiro) for chestnut recipes (Galicia in northwest Spain is famed for its chestnut forests and dishes, both sweet and savory, with chestnuts), I came upon this recipe for a pudding with dried fruits and nuts. At first glance it seemed like bread pudding. At second reading, it rang the Christmas pudding bells. Now that I’ve made it, it seems almost as if you turned both the figgy Christmas pud and the brandy sauce into an eggy flan! 

Digging a little deeper (via Google) I found that the pudding, entitled mestura in the Cunqueiro book, meaning “mixture,” had several other names—vinchas, from vejiga (bladder); bandullos, meaning “belly,” and calleiras meaning “stomach” or “tripe.”  This seems to show that the pudding originally was stuffed into animal parts and steamed. In fact, one version, traditional during the winter hog butchering, has the bread crumbs soaked in pig’s blood rather than milk, making it not so different from English black pudding. 

The web site also mentioned a particular herb, nébola, that was incorporated in the pudding and also cooked with chestnuts. Which may or may not be Satureja Nepeta, related to the herbs summer and winter savory, or maybe it’s lesser calamint which possibly is the same as za’atar, the herb, not the blend. 

Not having a Galician avoa (abuela or grandma) to consult about the traditional kitchen, I used a pinch of summer savory (Satureja hortensis, ajedrea in Spanish). The herb has a fragrance reminiscent of thyme. It can be used in any recipe in which you might use thyme or sage—poultry, pork, stuffing, beans. I loved it in mushroom-barley soup and will definitely add it to the stuffing for the Christmas turkey. While savory—by its very name—may seem unusual in a dessert, I thought summer savory added a subtle forest counterpoint to the intense sweetness of figs and raisins. 

This dessert tastes as if you turned a Christmas pudding into a flan.

Serve the pudding with caramel syrup and whipped cream.

Galician Bread Pudding with Fruits and Nuts

Mestura Galega

You can substitute other dried fruits for the raisins and figs in this recipe. Try dried apricots, prunes, dates, cranberries. Málaga muscatel raisins are the sweetest, but must be seeded. Any seedless raisin could be used instead. Plump the dried fruits in sweet wine, brandy or aguardiente, anise liqueur.

Use day-old bread. Trim off any hard crusts as they will not soften when soaked in milk.

Bake the pudding in a baño maría, a water bath, so that it cooks evenly. Cool and then refrigerate it still in the baking pan before unmolding. The pudding keeps, refrigerated, up to a week. 

We enjoyed the pudding with caramel syrup and whipped cream. A traditional hard sauce or brandy butter would go nicely as well.

Bread, nuts, fruits, eggs, sugar, spices.

12 servings

4 cups diced day-old bread

4 cups whole milk

¾ cup seeded raisins 

1 cup chopped figs

3 tablespoons sweet wine, brandy or aguardiente

1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Grating of fresh nutmeg

Pinch of summer savory (optional)

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons melted butter

6 eggs, beaten

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or almonds

¼ cup pine nuts

Caramel syrup or molasses to serve (optional)

Whipped cream to serve (optional)

Place the bread in a bowl and pour over the milk. Mix well and let the bread soak 30 minutes until softened. Mash it slightly with a wooden spoon.

Place the raisins and figs in a small bowl and add the wine. Let the fruit plump until ready to add to the batter.

Savory, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon.

Stir 1/3 cup of sugar, the salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, savory, if using, and zest into the bread-milk mixture. Fold in the raisins and figs. Add the butter, then beat in the eggs. Stir in the walnuts and pine nuts, saving a few to stud the top of the pudding.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly butter a 6 to 8-cup loaf pan and line the bottom with baking parchment. Pour in the batter. Sprinkle the top with remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar and reserved pine nuts. Set the loaf pan in a larger pan and add boiling water to half its depth. Very carefully transfer to the oven.

Chill pudding before unmolding.

Bake the pudding until it is set when tested with a thin skewer, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove and cool the pudding on a rack. Do not unmold. When cool, cover the pudding with foil and refrigerate until chilled.

Loosen the sides of the pudding with a knife. Carefully unmold it onto a cutting board covered with baking parchment. Peel off parchment from the bottom of the pudding. Use a serrated knife to cut thick slices of the pudding. 

Serve accompanied by syrup and whipped cream, if desired. 

Use serrated knife to cut the pudding in thick slices.

More about the Galican herb néboda Hierbas Poco Conocidas.