Apple, custard and meringue pudding
This dessert can be made and assembled the day before baking, kept in the fridge if you make it with a Swiss or Italian meringue. It’s a different take on my Apple and Custard Tart. You can make normal meringue (French meringue) but in that case the meringue part has to be made at the last minute before baking otherwise it will weep.
If you put a spoon right to the bottom of the ramekin you will have a mixture of sharp apple puree, creamy custard and sweet marshmallow meringue in you mouth all at the same time.
Cooking apples work best because it balances the sweetness of the custard and meringue to give all overall balance.
If eating apples are all you have, use the tartest ones available and you may want to add half tablespoon of lemon juice to sharpen the puree.
If you are someone who has a sweet tooth and the thought of using unsweetened cooking apple puree sets your teeth on edge then by all means add a little sugar but make it less sweet than you would like or else you may end up with what I can sugar burn at the back of the throat from over-sweetness.
A nice addition to the bottom of the ramekin is boozy soaked prunes chopped up.
For the dessert below with prunes I blow-torched the meringue but it’s not as good as baking the meringue because it’s missing out on the crisp outer shell to give the dessert some texture.
A whirly piped meringue is not necessarily, if piping is too much faff (and I feel like that sometimes), spoon it on top.
- 3 large cooking apples, 600g/1¼ lb
- 160g / 8 tablespoons of custard (if shop bought buy full fat)
- 2 large egg whites
- 110g / 7.5 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
- 4 prunes – optional
- To make your own custard, and how to cook down the apples see the Apple & Custard Tart recipe. You can swap the double cream in the custard for single cream or full fat milk. See note above whether to add sugar or not to apples.
- Half fill the ramekins with apple puree and one chopped prune per ramekin if using. Top puree with two tablespoon of custard. Spoon or pipe the meringue on top. This can be made ahead, the day before, if using Swiss or Italian meringue.
- Put the ramekins on top of an oven baking sheet and bake in a pre-heat oven at 160˚C fan for 20-25 mins. The meringue will puff up nicely looking a little like soufflé, and you might see the apple oozing out of the sides.
- For French Meringue
- If making last minute meringue, whisk the egg whites until they have started to make soft peaks. At this point add 2 tablespoons of sugar at a time to the egg foam and whisk in the sugar well before adding the next spoonfuls. You will start to see the meringue becoming glossy and shiny, whisk in the last of the sugar and use straight away.