8 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making A Perfect Pudding
Just looking at the pudding makes your mouth water! Dessert is popular on several occasions, from family lunches to popular parties. But, despite being a simple recipe, some mistakes when preparing can compromise the flavor of the pudding and even its consistency.
Because it takes so few ingredients, many people believe that preparing a pudding is an easy task. The truth is that it takes a lot of technique and time. We must be careful and patient from the time of preparing the syrup until the moment of unmolding, as any mistake can ruin the whole process.
The traditional pudding takes condensed milk, eggs, milk, and sugar into the caramelized syrup. But it is possible to vary in flavors and prepare with coconut, tapioca, chocolate, powdered milk, berries, nuts, among other ingredients. Here are some tips to avoid making a mistake in the recipe and making a perfect pudding.
1. With or Without Hole
This issue divides opinions. The truth is that with or without holes, the pudding remains tasty. The holes in the pudding are not a defect, they just mean that the dough was more aerated. If you like a smoother pudding without holes, you should sift and mix the ingredients by hand, with a fork, without beating too much. preference is the flaky pudding, beat well in the blender to get air into the dough. For smooth puddings, keep an eye on the temperature that should be low, and the preparation needs to be done slowly.
2. Bitter Syrup
Imagine trying a pudding and the syrup tastes like burnt? It happens a lot with those who have no experience and compromises dessert a lot. The syrup becomes bitter because the sugar burns.
When preparing it, it is important to pay close attention to the caramel temperature which cannot exceed 190 ° C. If you do not have a thermometer, check the color — the darker, the more bitter the result. And when the syrup is light caramel, add the boiling water and stir until all the sugar lumps dissolve.
3. Egg Smell
To avoid this unpleasant odor, strain the yolks before adding them to the mixture. In addition, the recommendation is always to buy fresh eggs. The older this input is, the more intense its smell will be. Another way to circumvent this problem is to use some essence like extract, paste, or vanilla bean to flavor the pudding.
4. Water bath
The pudding should be prepared in a double boiler to make the recipe creamy. And the most common mistake is in the high temperature of the water that is placed in the pan. It is not recommended to use lukewarm or hot, as this will result in the early coagulation of the yolk, which makes the pudding have a “coarse” texture.
Another tip: put water at the height of the pudding cream to prevent it from drying out during preparation and you risk burning. In excess, water can overflow in the pudding. It is important to always use low temperatures during the entire cooking time.
5. Quantity of Ingredients
For those who do not have much experience, the ideal is to follow a standardized recipe. Making changes to the ingredients and the amount can change the flavor and consistency of the pudding. It is important to weigh all the items, use the eggs of the same sizes and measure the products in cups or glasses of the same model. The proportion is also important since the structure of the pudding is given by the amount of egg. If you add more milk than the recipe calls for and do not correct the proportion of eggs, for example, it may become waterier and may not reach the expected texture.
6. Preparation Time
The relationship between time and temperature is paramount to the success of the pudding. It cannot stay in the oven longer than necessary or it can stick or burn in the pan. If you do not respect the cooking time and remove the pudding earlier than expected, it will not be firm, even after spending hours under refrigeration. Therefore, preparing a pudding requires patience, since it can take hours to get ready with the refrigeration period.
7. Aluminum Foil
A tip for not forming a dry crust on the pudding: cover with aluminum foil during cooking. The shiny part should be inside. But avoid touching the dough during cooking.
8. When It Comes to Unmolding
Letting the pudding cool and respecting your refrigerator rest is the most important factor so that when unmolding the pudding comes out whole. Never unmold hot, as it has not yet acquired the cut texture and will not be firm. To unmold the pudding, it is necessary to let it cool for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.
Another alternative is to pass the knife on the sides so that the air can enter, and the pudding will be perfect.
