Eszter Tóth, of Vác, Hungary (who shared a Burgenland trip report with us in
Newsletter #268),
tells me that her grandfather wrote up the old recipes of his wife
(her grandmother) in about 1917. Eszter shares one for "Dara Pudding" saying It
was family legend that this recipe was coming with my great-grandmother, so maybe has Burgenland
roots. Anyway I love it.
Dara is a Hungarian word for semolina = farina = Cream of Wheat, and the pudding is so named because Dara is the base ingredient for the pudding. As prepared in the recipe below, it is topped with a custard/milk sauce. On the web, you can find many variations on Dara Pudding ...some recipes blend fruit into the pudding or top it with a fruit-based sauce. There are also fancy versions with a chocolate or caramel topping and simple versions with just a cinnamon or powdered sugar or cocoa dusting.
Although I looked, I could not find a Dara Pudding pictured with the custard-sauce topping, so I was planning to show just the recipe itself... but when I mentioned this to Eszter, she decided to treat herself to the pudding and provided a series of photos of the preparation steps... I'll share them after the recipe, along with the comments she sent with the pictures.
But first, here is Eszter's custard-topped Dara Pudding recipe, complete with her grandfather's original hand-written instructions:
(from Eszter Tóth)
| 3/4 c. sugar | 1/3 c. semolina |
| cups + 2 tablespoons milk |
Caramelize 15 dekagrams [3/4 cup] of sugar until nicely brown. Blend in 1/2 liter [2 cups plus 2 tablespoons] milk and heat to a slow boil. Stir in 6 dekagrams [1/3 cup] semolina and cook until thickened. Rinse a mold [cake or pudding form] with cold water, pour in the pudding, and chill.
Now prepare a thick custard. Then, when the pudding has cooled, unmold it onto a deep platter and pour the custard on top.
| 3 egg yolks | 3 Tbsp. sugar |
| dash of vanilla | a bit of flour |
| 2 c. milk |
Blend all ingredients together then stir over low heat until thickened to a smooth, dense liquid (1 minute of boil). In general, use as many egg yolks as tablespoons of sugar, a little vanilla, a little flour to thicken it, and just enough milk to make it a smooth, dense liquid (usually 1/2 liter of milk [about 2 cups] to 3 egg yolks).
Ingredients of the first step: milk, sugar and semolina
Use a deep pot for caramelization, because when you pour the milk—very, very slowly—it is similar to a volcano.
Don’t forget to make the form wet, just before you pour the pudding into it.
The result of the first step. It is just cooling now:
The ingredients of the second step: milk, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and flour
First, thoroughly mix the sugar, egg yolks and a little flour in the pot. Then add the milk and vanilla. Cook it until it boils for a minute. Stir it continuously!!!!
I tasted them, as you can see!
Dara Pudding; grandfather, who put down the recipe; grandmother, who made the original version; my afternoon coffee; AND my first taste of the Dara Pudding!
Thank you, Tom, for this nice and sentimental afternoon!
[Ed note: That looks awfully good! ...but Eszter did not send me a slice like I asked! lol]