Never cooked with Wattleseed or Riberry (or even tasted them) before? Then read on for a cracking recipe where these two Aussie ingredients give a classic dessert a modern twist…
- 500ml milk
- 500ml double cream
- 1 brioche loaf
- 20g butter
- 200g sugar
- 6 eggs, separated
- 100g Riberry confit (also known as the small leaved lillipilli, the small pink fruits taste like cinnamon and cloves)
- 60g Wattleseed (naturally derived from select species of wattle seeds that imparts unique coffee, chocolate and hazelnut flavours)
- 60g walnuts, chopped
Method
1. Slice the brioche and cut the slices diagonally
2. Butter each slice and use the remaining butter to grease an oven-proof dish
3. Begin placing the brioche slices into the dish scattering riberry fruits (reserve the syrup from the confit) and walnut pieces between the slices
4. In a saucepan, combine the double cream, milk and Wattleseed and bring to the boil. Alternatively, this can be done in a microwave in a suitable container.
5. In a bowl cream the egg yolks and sugar together until white
6. Gradually add the hot milk and cream mixture into the egg mix, stirring well
7. Whip the egg whites to firm peaks and fold into the custard just prepared.
8. Pour this mix into the oven dish with the prepared brioche
9. In a deep tray, lay some folded newspaper on the base and place the oven dish on it. Fill the tray with hot water half way up the sides of the dish and cover the whole tray with foil. Make sure the foil does not touch the top of the pudding as it must stand proud of the food. (See more on the hazards of foil here)
10. Cook in an oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes, remove the foil and continue cooking for another 20 minutes or until done. The custard should be set and the bread be just browned.
11. When cooked, remove the dish from the tray and allow to cool on the bench
12. Drizzle or brush Riberry syrup over the top of the pudding and serve as it is or with ice cream.
Above: Vic Cherikoff (right) with Benjamin Christie (left) on the set of Dining Downunder
Chef Vic Cherikoff has kindly shared this recipe with us. Vic is passionate about Australian wild foods and invented Wattleseed as a flavouring (among other inventions/developments). For more recipes and videos using wild foods, check out www.dining-downunder.com
