When I was little in Italy there was a sachet to make strawberry pudding, and I used to fantasize about it. My mother always bought the chocolate one, and rarely the vanilla one, while I was dreaming of trying the strawberry because it was... pink! In the end Mum got it but we were all disappointed: it tasted quite artificial, and the pink colour too was ... too artificial. Since then I only made strawberry pudding with real strawberries. Well, until a week ago, that is. After the plum powder I tried the strawberry powder, the ingredient list is pretty short: it only says strawberry! This time I wasn't going to get that 'artificial' feeling!
I made the pudding twice, the first tasted good... but I used whole eggs and the yellow from the yolk possibly took away a bit of the colour: the pudding wasn't exactly pink, and I really wanted a pink pudding (pudding, not pannacotta!).
Plan B: I remade the pudding only with egg whites, so that the base was white. I used 3 egg whites, 3 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp plain flour, and 600 ml of full cream milk.
Another change I made from my first experiment was that instead of adding the strawberry powder at the beginning, I decided to add it at the end, to see if the aroma would be stronger (it is, in my opinion). So as soon as the white 'custard' was ready I thinned one heap tbsp of Fresh As strawberry powder with a little milk to make a paste, and then I added it in and mixed well.
To complete the look I decorated the puddings with some Fresh As strawberry slices (these are also freeze dried), since here in NZ it is Autumn now, and strawberries are out of season.
And while waiting for the puddings to set in the fridge, I made some smoothies with banana, apple juice, and some more strawberry powder, to drink in the garden (the weather is beautiful these days!) accompanied by our homegrown Cape gooseberries.
The pink flower on the right is just to complete the happy pink picture, and definitely not to be eaten!
If you live in New Zealand click here for a chance to win some Fresh As strawberry powder and strawberry slices (plus some mandarin segments too). Competition closes on 29 April at 12pm.
Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©
Ciao Ale!! ....in effetti anch'io ho sempre mangiato budini alla vaniglia, qualche volta al cioccolato, alle fragole proprio mai!! Deve essere profumatissimo! Facendosi la polvere home made, possiamo provare! Ciao, buona settimana
ReplyDeleteFranci e Vale.... non so perche' il vostro commento era finito nello spam (per fortuna me ne sono accorta, stamane ho dovuto cestinare 39 commenti spam e vi ho quasi cancellato!). Spero che non succeda ancora! :-)
DeleteQuella polvere di fragole quanto m'intriga!!! Sicuramente questo pudding è ben diverso da quello "artificiale" che ricordi da piccina. E io devo decidermi a comprare un'essiccatore :) Un bacione, buona settimana
ReplyDeleteSi, sa proprio di fragola, solo in modo 'intenso' :-), come i funghi secchi, na basta poca
DeleteAs a child my favourite pudding sachet was lemon & coconut! It wasn't very common, so we hardly ever had it. If we couldn't get that one, my sister & I always chose strawberry - but I'm sure your version is much tastier!!
ReplyDeleteLemon and coconut! It sound like a nice combo, I may have to make something like that!
DeleteSembra buonissimo!Bravissima come sempre!Buona settimana,carina!
ReplyDeleteMa è romanticissimo questo cuore. Chissà che delizia!!!
ReplyDeleteDa grande amante delle fragole, ho l'acquolina in bocca a vedere pudding e smoothie di fragole nello stesso post *O*! E non avevo idea dell'esistenza della polvere di fragole, perfetta anche nei mesi in cui le fragole sono fuori stagione ^__^!
ReplyDeleteInfatti qui e' autunno!
DeleteVEdo che lì è meraviglioso anche nella stagione fredda, mamma mia!
ReplyDeleteIo sono fedele al ciccolato ma...se li abbinassimo?!bacione
Il cioccolato rimane il mio preferito, ma abbinare e' bello, magari a strati con pure la vaniglia come qui http://alessandrazecchini.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/three-layer-puddings-in-jar-vanilla.html
DeleteCiao Alessandra grazie di cuore per la tua visita e per esserti unita ai miei sostenitori! Io invece ti seguivo già da un pò, anche se ho commentato poche volte!
ReplyDeleteBellissimo il tuo pudding e ad avercelo un'essiccatore, quante polverine magiche potrei creare! Uno strettissimo abbraccio!
We love strawberries and this looks delicious and refreshing! Thank you for following. I'm a follower now as well.
ReplyDeletenemmeno io avevo mai visto nè sentito parlare della polvere di fragole, sembra un cibo da astronauti!molto interessante in quelle stagioni senza fragole1 buona settimana...
ReplyDeleteUn po' si vero? E' una serie di prodotti fatta per gli chef, quelli che fanno un po' di... gastronomia molecolare e cose 'diverse'. Infatti al dettaglio vendono poco e solo nei negozi specializzati, o sul net. Ci sono altri prodotti che non vedo l'ora di provare!
DeleteDavvero un ingrediente particolarissimo....polvere...magica direi!!!!
ReplyDeleteche belle foto ...come sempre sei spettacolare!
My daughter loves everything pink, too! I haven't tried strawberry pudding, I'm partial to chocolate, but this sounds dreamy!
ReplyDeletePink is a very feminine colour, but it is also a colour that says :Eat me!"
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to be able to enjoy all that wonderful strawberry flavour as we head in to Winter :)
ReplyDeleteJust my thought!
DeleteBellissimo, molto dolce :)
ReplyDeleteGreat finding to use just egg white for the color. I love pudding, and this sounds like something my kids will enjoy very much!
ReplyDeleteNami, you can even leave it white, or add white chocolate!
ReplyDelete