Tuesday 13 November 2012

No bake biscuit pudding (biscuit cake)

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This is my mums signature dish. She makes it at every party and get together and is so popular among everyone. Back in those school/college- going days (I know I sound like a grand mother) whenever there is a party and my mums making a list of things to make, my brother and I would beg her to NOT make this damn biscuit pudding. It used to be so funny...even some of my uncles and relatives used to joke saying, we are not coming to your house if you are serving that biscuit pudding as dessert. Ironic, because, today I'm missing home terribly and thought what better to post than my mums infamous biscuit pudding on this Diwali day, and remember all things comforting and secure...home.

She used to claim its so damn easy to put together and was any day better than a store bought tub of ice cream (which we wouldn't agree of course) and also since it could be cut into slices, it made for a perfect fuss free, plate-free dessert, hence less washing up and easy solution. You might by now understand where I get my lazy genes from..yes mum, thank you very much. But in all honesty, I would completely understand her reasoning. Parties used to go till late in the night and no one wants to sit and wash dishes and clear up stuff till the wee hours of the morning. No dish washer and no live-in house maid to make this job easier. So anything to ease this process was welcome. 
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I called her up the other day to get the recipe and my exact line was 'Mummy I want the recipe for that horrible biscuit pudding you make.' To which she replied, I knew you would one day ask me for the recipe and I shall not give you. I said don't push it since I already had a tonne of biscuit pudding recipes from google searches and if by chance one of those turned out awesome, it would replace her boring recipe. After pulling each others legs for a while, she slyly told me shed just made the recipe that very day cos they had guests over for lunch the next day and so I got the recipe off hand.

So this Diwali, when everyone's making jamuns and Mysore pak and other yummy desserts, go against tradition and made this biscuit pudding instead. Its hassle free and tastes absolutely delish. I have tried another version of the same from Shabs Cuisine and it was great, even though a bit time consuming, and is much more richer and fancier than this version. Take your pick. Either ways, you will love it.

I would also like to dedicate this post to a blog reader of mine U, who sends me the sweetest emails and keeps in touch with me constantly. I thoroughly look forward to her inputs on the recipes I have posted and she once requested for a biscuit pudding recipe. Although I'm terribly late in posting it, I hope she enjoys it and is the recipe she was looking for. 
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Tea biscuits/ Marie biscuits- 1/2 a pack (as needed)
Coffee/ Espresso powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Water- 1 cup
Butter- 100 gms, at room temperature
Icing sugar- 1 cup
Cocoa powder- 4 tbsp
Milk- approx. 2 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Make a cup of coffee by diluting the coffee/ espresso powder in 1 cup boiling water. Keep aside to cool.
In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. You can do this using a spatula or your hand held beater/ free standing mixer. Its not too difficult if your butter is soft enough.
Sift the cocoa powder into the mix and continue beating till they are all mixed well.
Add the vanilla extract followed by milk and continue beating till everything comes together. Add the milk bit by bit and see if it reaches the required consistency. It shouldn't be too stiff, but easily spreadable consistency, and not too watery. I used around 1 1/2 tbsp.
Dip the biscuits in the coffee and place a layer at the bottom of the pan (refer notes). Its ok if some of them overlap.
Drop a couple of spoons of the chocolate-butter cream mix on top of the biscuits and using a palette knife/ spatula spread it out as evenly as possible and pushing the cream into all the corners and spaces. Again, it need not be smooth and stuff.
Continue with another layer of biscuits followed by cream till all of it is over and the cream is the top most layer. I got 4 layers of each.
Fold over the cling wrap, give a gentle press and refrigerate for at least 4 hours..
When ready to serve, lift the pudding out of the pan, unfold it, turn it onto a plate and decorate (if needed) or immediately slice and place in a serving plate.
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Notes: There are 2 ways to assemble the pudding..
  • Line a 9 inch loaf pan with cling film, so that the ends fall over the sides and there is enough cling film to fold over the top. This method will let you lift the entire thing off the pan and slice into desired sizes. Less messier, easier and looks pretty.
  • Just layer the entire thing in a square glass/ brownie dish and slice them as required. May be a bit tricky to get the pieces out, but my mum follows this method. She says it works.
The chocolate melts really fast when kept outside for too long, so hand around paper napkins along with the slices. You don't want chocolate stains on your new Fab India cushion cover do you?? :)
You can decorate the top with chopped nuts, chocolate swirls etc. I didn't do it because Ro will dig into it in a matter of seconds and its not worth all that decoration ;)
My mum uses up an entire pack of biscuits, but that could be because she uses a square Pyrex dish for the same. If using up all the biscuits, you may need a wee bit more coffee.

15 comments:

Finla said...

Like you mom made this always, Hans grandmother always made this for if her kids celebrated something when they were young, i remembre sh emaking them even when I was here once, but now she is so old she don't do things like this.
Hi hi so you are lazy you admit that :-)

Suhaina said...

This looks so easy yet its really a wonderful recipe. Nice clicks.

Poornima Nair said...

Your poor Mom being taunted for this fabulous dessert, if I remember right Mom always made vermicelli payasam for all our parties, can you imagine our reaction :)..this is so much better!
In my fifth grade class one of our teachers gave us a similar recipe and asked us to try it at home, so this was the first dessert I ever made and I love it!

Lawyer Loves Lunch said...

It's funny how mom recipes always make their way 'round. I'm also intrigued that biscuit cakes haven't made their debut in the US. Needless to say, I'm a fan of your mom's recipe and will be trying it soon :)

FLAVZCORNER said...

I had the chance to try this biscuit pudding several times when I was small, even though i don't remember my Mom making this, but I guess this a typical Keralite easy dessert which is hassle free and quick when you have big group to entertain. This was a good reminderI for me to get some old recipes from my Mom.

Check out the Diwali sweet - Burfi recipe at www.flavzcorner.com

divya said...

looks so yummy!

Shabs.. said...

This one looks so good nish...I have made a similar version before when I saw one at collaborative curry...It's so eay to make alle?But I am some one who enjoy making complicated recipes than simple ones!I know, it would sound weird!Thanks for the mention..I am tired of drooling over the diwali sweets that bloggers been posting and flipping over my desert books. And din't even make anything yet!:(

Reshmi Mahesh said...

This looks too delicious and is very easy to put together...Will bookmark this for next party and let u know..Loved reading ur conversation with mom...hmmm ammamarude iduthinu recipe kittan korachu kashtapada...prithegichu aa recipene oru kalathu reject cheythitundangil..:)Experience..

runnergirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com said...

Perfect signature dish! Love these simple dishes.. my aunt make something similar with custard :) but it does require some cooking :))

Priya Suresh said...

Actually since i dont get original marie biscuits here,am pulling to make this pudding since a long. You tempts me a lot, just gonna call my sister to send me a parcel with some spices and marie biscuits. Highly irresistible,easy breezy pudding.

Satrupa said...

Thatz such a gorgeous pudding Nish ....... how could you ever mock your mom for this awesome no bake pudding which is also chocolaty .... yummm :)

Vidya Chandrahas said...

Very easy yet delicious pudding.

Hamaree Rasoi said...

So one of the cushions got to taste this super yummy pudding haan? :-) This looks so tempting and easy

Bharathy said...

This had been my very first dessert to be made as a 10 year old. Used to dip the marie biscuits in milk before layering. Otherwise its all the same.. but now I would opt coffee plus choc flavour for sure.
Wonderful clicks and looks perfect! Will make it soon :)

Sandra said...

I've been looking for this recipe for years.My late mum used to make it and today we are having it for dessert.