Rose-scented Carrageen Moss Pudding with Poached Rhubarb and an Oat Crumble
Mon, 27 January 2025
Ingredients:
For the pudding:
7g dried carrageen moss
900ml whole milk
2 teaspoons rose water
1 egg yolk
40g caster sugar
200ml double cream, softly whipped to serve
For the rhubarb:
300g granulated sugar
300g rhubarb (forced rhubarb, if possible, for a lovely pink colour)
6 large sweet geranium leaves (optional)
For the oat crumble:
50g whole porridge oats
1-2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
Prepare 6 individual serving glasses.
METHOD
Soak the carrageen moss in a bowl of lukewarm water for 10 minutes. It will swell up. Strain off and discard the water. Put the moss in a saucepan with the milk. Bring the milk slowly to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. The carrageen will have softened and sort of dissolved into the milk.
Remove the pan from the heat. Put the egg yolk, sugar and rosewater in a separate large bowl and whisk together for a few minutes. Don’t do this too early as the sugar kind of cooks the egg yolk and makes it grainy. Strain the milk through a fine sieve onto the egg yolk mixture, whisking the whole time. The carrageen moss in the sieve will be swollen and kind of jelly-like. Push as much of the jelly as you can through the sieve into the mix mixture, use a spatula to scrape the jelly off the bottom of the sieve and into the pudding. Whisk well to mix.
Divide between the serving glasses and allow to set in the fridge for six hours or preferably overnight.
For the rhubarb: Put the granulated sugar and sweet geranium leaves (if using) in a heatproof jug or bowl. Boil 300ml water and pour this over the granulated sugar stirring to dissolve the sugar. Allow to cool completely.
Chop the rhubarb into 5cm lengths. Arrange the rhubarb in a single layer in a wide pan with a lid and pour over the cooled syrup. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat with one minute, turn the heat to low and simmer for one minute. Turn the heat off. The rhubarb will continue to cook in the heat of the syrup. Once cool store the rhubarb in the syrup in the fridge.
For the oat crumble: Heat a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the porridge oats and the brown sugar and cook for a couple of minutes until toasty and caramelised.
Keep stirring the oats to prevent any one part burning. Decant to a tray or plate to cool down.
To serve, top the moss pudding with a dollop of softly whipped cream, a few pieces of poached rhubarb and a sprinkle of the oat crumble.
