FREAKING LET THE PUDDING SET: a lesson on egg cookery

omg anger!

nah, only at the moment when i saw my bread pudding fall. now i'm feeling just a little disappointed. well, i happened to see a recipe for bread and butter pudding last night, in one of the books i borrowed, and it called for things which i conveniently (almost) had. i love recipes that call for 100g sultanas, because i'm always having to buy 200g-packs and using only half of it each time. (the half i used today was leftover from making the chocolate banana bread.)

and it was too irresistible to use jia en's baking tray while i had it in my possession.

and so i baked!
this recipe book that i borrowed from the library is so cool, because it provides recipes that are adapted from those that date back to the 1700s.
setting up. you'll notice that many pudding/custard recipes call for cream/milk and eggs (usually yolks). and it's standard procedure to heat the cream first and then mix in the eggs, and then send for baking or further cooking. that means, i didn't strictly follow the cooking instructions given in the recipe; i adapted the techniques i learnt in my american book.
cut up bread, buttered and arranged on jia en's baking tray! then scattered with 100g sultanas.
the sugar-and-egg mixture whisked together, and then tempered with the simmered milk. tempering is the process of introducing the egg mixture into the hot milk without cooking/curdling the eggs. to do this, instead of adding the eggs to the milk, we add the milk to the eggs. (relativity!) with the egg mixture in a wide-mouthed jug, gradually pour in the hot milk and whisk the mixture vigorously to prevent the eggs from cooking and forming lumps. the first addition of hot milk should not exceed half the volume of the eggs. continue pouring and whisking until at least one-third of the milk has been added. at this point, the eggs are hot enough, and pouring the whole mixture into the remaining milk will not result in curdling anymore! (just so you know, 'tempering' takes on a whole new meaning in chocolate cooking.)
letting the bread soak in the pudding mixture for one hour. you do want the bread to be full of the milk flavour.
ok, so during this part the eggs serve their purpose in the pudding: to provide structure. the protein present in both the egg whites and yolks will set slowly in the heat, giving body to the pudding. and so the pudding rose and set. i gave it a shake when time was up; i thought the wobble was quite small, and then i took it out.

and then it bloody deflated. i imagine it should stay risen, like twice the height it is right now, if it were fully baked. i prepared myself for another round of chawanmushi as i cut into the pudding, but it was more set than last thursday's. it should register now that this is because the pudding on thursday was made with four yolks and one egg, while today's was made with three eggs.

and the difference here is key. nigella used little egg white, because using only the yolks will impart a very smooth and creamy mouthfeel, owing to the inherent higher fat content in the yolks. the rich-in-protein egg whites will produce a stronger structure and make the pudding feel tougher; it gives that very tough eggy feel, like chinese scrambled eggs. even though today's pudding did not feel that tough, i can't help but think/know that nigella's recipe would produce a much softer, much nicer pudding, if done correctly. so using eggs, in parts or whole, is really about choosing between structure and mouthfeel, or finding the balance between the two.

also, arranging the bread slices so that the corners point up not only gives a prettier pudding, but also gives a crunch that contrasts so delightfully with a soft (but fallen) pudding. i shall FREAKING LET THE PUDDING SET the next time i try it again.
right now i'm making myself feel cosy with pudding and ice cream.