Monday, January 5, 2009

in the kitchen: chomeur pudding

So the weather outside is frightful, and you're craving something warm, sweet and totally indulgent; 'tis the season, after all. Well, kiddo, do I have just the thing for you!

Enter the chomeur pudding (or pouding, as they say in Quebec). This little doozy of a dish is something I first tried at Au Pied de Cochon, a spot justly (in)famous for its celebration of all things fatty and fun...just thinking about the foie poutine makes my heart beat just that much faster, for real.

Here's the deal; think warm, gooey maple syrup bathing a tender biscuit in all its sticky toffee glory. With a bit of cold pouring cream to help wash it all down...mmm, I just can't resist!


Chomeur Pudding

(I recently found out that this literally means a poor man's/unemployed person's pudding, since the very few ingredients could be found in even the barest of cupboards...so now there's definitely no excuse not to try this out!)


dough
3 eggs
6 oz butter
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt


syrup
2 cups maple syrup
2 cups 35% cream
pinch salt


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Cream together your softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.


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Add eggs, one at a time until blended. Scrape down bowl and add flour, baking powder and salt.


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Mix just until combined. The dough should feel quite sticky and gloppy, (that's the technical term) like a loose biscuit batter. Chill your dough at least 20 mins before using.

As for the maple syrup, um, syrup - it's as easy as bringing your cream, syrup and pinch of salt up to a simmer. Give it a stir and let it cool down. That's it!

Assembly time. You can do individual portions (may I gently suggest that smaller is better, these babies are rich) in oven safe bowls, or bake the whole lot in one large casserole dish.


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Scoops of chilled dough...


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...mostly covered with the maple syrup mix. And into a 350 oven.


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The individual portions take about 15-17 minutes to bake. Your kitchen is going to smell amazing, by the way!


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The only tricky part is letting them cool down enough so you can eat them without burning your face off. Sticky, sweet and oh sooo yummy...


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...the only thing better is to have a supply of cold pouring cream handy (slightly boozed up with Jack Daniels, totally optional, but definitely recommended).


Unrepentant comfort food at its best; this is how I plan to survive the long winter ahead!






2 comments:

  1. OOh that looks good! Can you use any kind of cream? (Whipping, Half & Half, etc).

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  2. Hi S! - I like to use whipping cream (might as well go all the way...) just very lightly whipped, flavoured with a tiny bit of Jack or vanilla extract. So good!

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