I was just floating along the aisles of the Vijitha Yapa recently when I came across this rather unimpressive looking book that looked like any other cookbook written by one of the various self proclaimed cooks in the country. Ceylon Daily News Cookery Book by Hilda Deutrom Ceylon Daily News Cookery Book by Hilda Deutrom – I flipped through the contents. Those who know me know me as someone who likes all things quirky and strange and it would not come as a surprise that I actually did make that purchase.
Now this book for me is a keeper, not because of the genius of its recipes, but because it reveals to me the culinary ways of the years before me. The recipes aren’t always very accurate and most of them are purely absurd but it was a read that I thoroughly enjoyed and got inspired by. And this chocolate biscuit pudding in particular is something that really struck with me, not only in terms of simplicity but also in terms of flavor as well.
I think what drew me to this particular recipe is the fact that Chocolate biscuits are a Sri Lankan commodity. This cream filled chocolate cookie is almost a culinary cultural item. It was the ease with which these delightful tidbits are incorporated with the rest of the ingredients that I find the most delightful in this recipe. While like most of the recipes in this book, the original recipe is a little too bland for my taste, I’ve adapted it to my liking and here’s what I came up with.
- Yield: 8 servings
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Serving: 8 servings
Chocolate Biscuit Pudding
Ingredients
- Cream - 500ml
- Egg whites - 2
- Sugar - 3 tblsps
- Chocolate biscuits - 300g
- Glace cherries - 200g, chopped
- Vanilla
Instructions
- Beat together the cream and the sugar until soft peaks form.
- Ina separate bowl, beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the beaten cream until thoroughly blended. Fold in the vanilla.
- Crush the chocolate biscuits with a rolling pin into small pieces.
- In a dish, layer some of the chocolate biscuit pieces, the cream mixture and sprinkle some glace cherries on top. Repeat layering until all the ingredients are used up and make sure that the cream is the last layer.
- Sprinkle some glace cherries or chocolate curls. Place in refrigerator overnight until set.
This creamy, chocolaty dessert is a true treat. From the mingling of the crunchy chocolate biscuits now turned fudgy with the silky cream we get a dreamy cloudlike softness softly perfumed with vanilla. The sweet and tangy cherry pieces meld well with the rich chocolate in that classic combination of sweet and tangy and breaks out in a loud burst of gleaming red, coloring your palate. The flavors are clean and simple with the tanginess of the cherry cutting through the richness of the cream and the chocolate, one balancing the other in an ultimate dance of enviable nimbleness.
This is a perfect treat to be wipped up without much effort whenever someone happens to be dropping by. Takes literally minutes!