A Brief Return to Innocence

Deliciously ghoulish, Gran Kowie called the basic, traditional version of this classic old dessert Frog Eggs Pudding. Off course we children devoured it literally and figuratively! I mean, which child of the 70’s wouldn’t? The morbid ring of the name and translucent pearls (surrounded by mushy baked custard) were sufficiently intriguing to maybe, just maybe be true for once. Particularly since none of us city kids had yet seen any real frogs’ eggs except in books. And Granny promised it was really, really frog’s eggs …

The fairly bland taste of traditional baked sago pudding (topped with a layer of baked apricot jam) should’ve rather obviously hinted to us the grown-ups were yet again lying to us. But on the other hand, for once, it was a delicious lie. Only much later in life did I discover that many of the fundamental ‘truths’ we children were indoctrinated with during our formative years, were in fact pernicious lies. Lies designed to look like the obvious truth; yet hiding few awful facts that probably would’ve made us more effective and realistic human beings had we been exposed to them from the beginning. Alas …

Then again, maybe our parents and grandparents were too naïve to recognize their fundamental ‘truths’ for what they really were: fallacies. Possibly, also, our parents and grandparents maybe did recognize the uselessness of their ‘truths’, but chose instead to live in complacent, self-enforced ignorance rather than face the real facts, most of which are nasty and depressing. Perhaps they themselves, our unsuspecting parents and grandparents, did not realise they were also being lied to by the authorities, their social ‘betters’ and all the higher powers: including Church, State and Cultural Institutions.

I have no experience with tapioca puddings, but the baked sago puddings of my youth were invariably fairly bland, mushy affairs designed to go down easily after a hefty Sunday lunch. Gran Kowie (on her far too few and irregular visits) prepared baked sago pudding for the odd Sunday lunch only. The primary reason for the existence of sago pudding, I suspect, was that in that era pudding was de rigueur after Sunday lunch. Having partaken of roast lamb or beef, roasted potatoes, rice with gravy and an assortment of buttered vegetables (roasted, stewed, casseroled, gratinated, etc.), you did not want to strain your digestive system any further. But pudding was pudding and it would simply not do to refuse – and thereby insult – your hostess or better half. Mom never made it for Sunday lunch nor any other event. I never figured out why.

The standard baked sago pudding of back then was sago pearls cooked with milk and butter until thick and translucent. More milk, sugar (usually brown), eggs and a tad of vanilla essence were whipped together and mixed into the thickened sago. This lot was then tipped into a buttered baking dish, placed into a pan with hot water and baked in a medium oven until set. The finishing touch was to spread hot apricot jam over the top just as the pudding had set and then returning it to the oven and grilling it lightly until the apricot jam started to bubble up and brown. Invariably you had to keep your wits about you at this step since if the jam charred, you were royally screwed.

Mocha Sago Pudding, Full View, Angled View

I suspect the mushy texture; enlivened by the contrast of the sticky, tangy baked apricot jam layer on top was the main attraction of traditional baked sago pudding. And if your hostess was a kind and generous person, she put on so much apricot jam that it baked into a tangy, leathery layer that you could lift off the surface of the pudd. Divine, oh so divine that wobbly square of deep fruitiness was! It was a mouth-watering conundrum: did you devour it straight away or did you rather set it aside in your pudding bowl to be savored last in a slippery, jelly-like essence of apricoty wonder?

I also suspect that modern children are way too jaded to fall for the frog eggs ruse. YouTube, television (with a small contribution by National Geographic Channel) and dramatically changed social norms grandly contributed to the loss of innocence of said modern youth. But then again, I don’t have children, so what do I know?

Baked Mocha Sago Pudding is my slightly updated take on the traditional baked sago pudding of my youth. Introducing new flavours jazzes the old girl up quite dramatically and topping the ensemble off with toasted almond flakes and honey puts some glitter back into the old dear’s disco ball. Serve it as is or with stewed, dried pears and prunes on the side, and we’re ready to dance the night away.

Do show some restraint with the stewed prunes? Else you rush off to the loo, all thoughts of dancing cast aside in your urgency.

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BAKED MOCHA SAGO PUDDING

– PRINT RECIPE –

Recipe yields:

2 – 4 Portions

Preparation time:

± 25 minutes

Baking time:

35 – 40 minutes

Difficulty level:

Easy

Special Equipment Required:

For 2 portions: a ± 500ml baking dish, glass or porcelain.

For 4 portions: a ± 1.2L baking dish, glass or porcelain.

Ingredients:

	*2 Portions*	*4 Portions*
Sago pearls	45ml / 40g	80ml / 65g
Full cream milk	100ml	150ml

Full cream milk	200ml	350ml
Molten butter	10ml	15ml
X/L eggs	1	2
Brown sugar	45ml	60ml
Coffee / Mocha essence	± 3ml	5ml
Caramel essence	1.2ml	2.5ml
Hazelnut essence	1.2ml	2.5ml
Vanilla essence	1.2ml	2.5ml
Salt	± 1ml	± 2 ml

Optional Topping:
Honey, warmed up	30ml	60ml
Toasted almond flakes	To taste	To taste

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Method:

Soak the sago and first batch of milk together for 30 minutes in a medium sized saucepan.
Add the second batch of milk – MINUS 45ml – to the soaked sago. Warm up over medium heat until the contents starts to simmer. Stir frequently. Turn the heat down to medium low to maintain a gentle simmer.
Simmer slowly with frequent stirring until the sago is soft and translucent, approx. 10 – 12 minutes. Stir continuously near the end when the sago starts to thicken and turns translucent.
Remove from the heat when the cooked sago is quite thick and the individual pearls fully translucent.
Add the molten butter and whisk in.
Combine the remaining milk, egg, sugar, salt and flavourings and beat together with an electrical mixer until light & creamy, approx 5 –7 minutes. After 3 – 4 minutes, add 5ml of water if the egg mixture is slow to whip up.
Pour the egg mixture slowly into the hot sago. Mix continuously with a whisk until all the egg mixture is added.
Transfer the sago mixture to a well greased baking dish and bake 30 – 35 minutes at 165°C (in a convection oven) in a water bath prepared with boiling water that comes up to the level of the sago mixture inside the baking dish. Bake 40 – 45 minutes at 180°C in a normal, non-fan oven.
Remove from the oven and pour the warmed honey evenly over the surface of the baked pudding. Spread the honey carefully out in an even layer over the hot surface of the baked pudding. Use the back of a teaspoon for this operation. Allow to cool ± 15 minutes before serving still hot.
Decorate with the toasted almond flakes just prior to serving.

Comments:

Hazelnut essence is often hard to obtain if you do not have an above average baking supply store in the vicinity. A possible substitute is the hazelnut syrups frequently found in the hot beverage section of many up market chain stores. You’ll have to play around with the volumes added to the dessert to obtain just a hint of hazelnut in the flavour background of the final baked dessert.
Alternatively, substitute almond essence for the hazelnut.
Serve with stewed, dried pears and prunes. This is not the ‘standard’ accompaniment, which is thick custard. However, the dessert’s internal structure already closely resembles a mushy custard. Pointless to add more of the same then. Dried pears and prunes pair very well with the overall coffee / mocha flavour profile and is my slight modernization – along with the dominant coffee / mocha flavour – of this old classic.
When pressed for time, you can forego the water bath and bake the pudding directly as is. However, the final product is generally noticeably denser than and not as mushy as its water bath version. It will also cook much faster, 25 – 30 minutes in a convection oven. Unavoidably, the non-water bath version loses some of its charm and glitz. C’est la vie.
Go slow on the stewed dried prunes? Their reputation as an effective and fast laxative is very well deserved.

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