Vanilla Pudding Cake

This is another of my wife’s baking projects. This is a variation on the various flavored pudding cakes she has been making recently. This time it was “Vanilla Pudding Cake” . This reminded her of PA Dutch cakes she likes to make. The recipe went together rather quickly and we had it as a desert. The cake layer on the top with vanilla sauce on the bottom. Very nice desert.

The recipe is based on one in the Simply Recipes.

Ingredients
1 stick (4 ounces or 113g) unsalted butter
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (143g) all-purpose flour, divided: 1 cup or 120g for the batter and 3tbs or 23 g for the topping.)  
1 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar, divided: 1 cup or 200g for the batter and 1/2 cup or 100g for the topping.)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups hot water
Powdered sugar, for serving

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Put the butter in a glass 8x8-inch baking dish. Set it in the oven so the butter melts as the oven preheats.

Meanwhile, make the batter:
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup (120g) of the flour, 1 cup (200g) of the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the milk and vanilla until smooth. When the butter has melted, remove the baking dish from the oven. Pour the batter over the butter.

Make the topping:
In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup (100g) sugar and 3 tablespoons (23g) of flour. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Slowly pour the hot water over the topping (do not stir).

Bake the cake until the top is golden brown and the cake is set on top with a gooey pudding layer underneath, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it stand until slightly cooled, about 10 minutes. Dust evenly with powdered sugar and serve warm.

This is a very satisfying desert. Like the other pudding cakes my wife has made it has a slightly crunchy crust on a soft layer of cake with a layer of pudding underneath. While my wife had made chocolate and blueberry flavor this one was a very nice vanilla. Can’t go wrong with this as a desert.

Blueberry Pudding Cake ブルーベリープディングケーキ

This is another one of my wife’s baking projects. This came about due to the convergence of two factors; one was the excess of blueberry puree we recently made from fresh blueberries for other baking projects and the other was that this is a variation on the theme of  PA Dutch chocolate pudding cake. Like the chocolate pudding cake, during the baking process, a cake layer forms on the surface and a pudding/sauce layer forms on the bottom. This recipe came together very quickly and the result was a nice vanilla cake with a rich blueberry pudding/sauce on the bottom. In this serving picture, in order to emphasize the lovely blueberry custard sauce, we scooped some of it on top of the piece of cake we served.

This is based on a recipe from the “Food and Wine” website but my wife deviated from the original recipe by substituting vanilla extract for the lemon juice/zest called for as flavoring in the original.

Ingredients
1 cup of pureed blueberries, 
1 cup of fresh whole blueberries not pureed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2  teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing
1 1/4 cups boiling water

Directions:
To prepare the blueberries: Gently heat the blueberries on low heat until the skins burst and the berries exude juice. Puree the berries with an emersion blender. 

To prepare the cake layer: In a bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. In another bowl mix the milk, melted butter and vanilla. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined. Transfer the batter to a greased baking dish and spread in an even layer.* Spread the pureed blueberries over the batter. Arrange the whole fresh berries on the batter, pressing down slightly. Carefully pour boiling water evenly over the batter; do not stir.

Bake in a 425 F oven until the cake is golden brown and a warm, pudding-like sauce has formed on the bottom, 25 to 27 minutes. 

* I used the small square pyrex baking dish for this recipe but it was a bit too small. (It measured 7”x7”x2”) Although all the ingredients initially fit nicely in the dish, when the cake layer formed it expanded and the blueberry juice underneath fountained out all over the edges of the baking dish. Luckily I had put a tray under the baking dish when I put it in the oven otherwise it would have been quite a mess. Next time I will use a larger baking pan. (The next larger pan measures 8”x8.5”x2.5”)

This desert was as good an addition to the pudding cake family as the chocolate one mentioned above. The vanilla flavored cake was complemented by a thick blueberry flavored custard that formed underneath it. The custard had a very pronounced blueberry flavor and the fresh blueberries embedded in the batter formed nice additional burst and texture of blueberry. This was a wonderful summer dish celebrating blueberry season. 

Chocolate Brownie Pudding チョコレートブラウニープディング

When my wife made “Lemon Sponge Pudding” using a recipe from Marsha Adams’ “Cooking from Quilt Country”, she spotted this recipe for “Chocolate Brownie Pudding”. It is made in the classic “Pennsylvania Dutch” style basically with a batter put on the bottom of a baking pan and the makings of a chocolate syrup poured over the top. Then as it bakes they reverse with a brownie like cake forming on top and a chocolate sauce forming on the bottom. She had never tasted it before so she decided to make it. This pudding is not particularly photogenic but the taste is really great, moist and very chocolaty. The recipe recommended to served this upside down so the brownie part is on the bottom and chocolate sauce/goo is on the top making it look somewhat like an amorphous dark mass (picture #1). The pecans added nice crunch in contrast to otherwise soft consistency.

After it was cooked, the top became a brownie and bottom was a chocolate sauce (picture #2).

Ingredients: 
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
I teaspoon salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa powder, divided (2 Tbs. used in batter, 4 Tbs. used in sauce) (I used King Arthur double dutch dark cocoa) 
1/2 cup milk 
2 tablespoons butter, melted 
I teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1½ cups boiling water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, and 2 tablespoons of the cocoa into a large bowel Add the milk, butter, and vanilla; mix until smooth. Stir in the pecans transfer to an oiled 1-quart (10 x 6-inch) baking dish. 

In a medium bowl combine the brown sugar and the remaining 4 tablespoons cocoa. Sprinkle over the cop of the chocolate mixture. Pour the boiling water over all. Do not stir in. 

Bake 40 minutes or until the top appears to be firm. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before cutting. 

This is without a doubt one of the best desserts ever. The brownie/sauce texture combination is extremely pleasing. The taste is a rich velvety chocolate. This one went really fast!