Date and Pecan Pudding

Wednesday, July 11th, 2007

Filed Under Dates, Desserts, Misc, Nuts, Recipes 

A couple of months ago I picked up some (read, a lot) dates just because it was on sale! Normally this is okay, our fridge is usually empty save for a bunch of fruits, some dried out vegetables and some take-out food containers, usually way past the expiration dates. So cleaning out the fridge used to be pretty much about throwing stuff out. But these days it is a different story. The real-estate inside the refrigerator is prime- the crispers are full of veggies, the meat/seafood tray is always packed, the doors are filled with different types of pickles, juices, water bottles etc. And the rest of the fridge is occupied with left overs, different varieties none more than two days old. It is a lived-in kitchen now, with all the mom’s cooking that’s been going on. So these dates which I planted in the fridge, just because that is the only place where I could find stuff a month ago, were taking up some coveted real estate. We have been trying to eat as much as we could, but the last two cups had to come out this Sunday after another farmer’s market run. I had to get rid of these, and the only way I could think of was to make a dessert out of it.

So here is a simple date pudding recipe, the simplest it can get. No, this is not even closely related to the traditional Date Pudding- the Sticky Date Pudding. This is totally my own experiment that turned out great, and I couldn’t think of another name for it!

 

Ingredients

(Makes about 6 servings)

Method

Isn’t that simple? With non-fat milk and just 2 tbsp sugar, it is a relatively guilt free dessert too. There is a lot of fiber in this as well, this was purely by accident though. I didn’t bother to skin the dates beforehand (I am not even sure if I could, since it will be a pretty cumbersome process to sit and skin all these dates!). I was hoping I would just strain the mixture afterwards, but of course Science got in the way and that didn’t work out quite the way I expected. But that was no big deal, it had a rustic texture due to the ground date skins, but still smooth enough and quite pudding-y.



Comments

44 Responses to “Date and Pecan Pudding”

  1. Raaga on July 11th, 2007 5:12 am

    Great recipe Sig. Have a question: what can I substitute the pecans with?

  2. Sig on July 11th, 2007 5:16 am

    Thanks Raaga… I think most dried nuts should work, I only had pecans in hand, hence the use of pecans here :) . I think walnuts, cashew nuts or unsalted pistachios would work nicely..

  3. sra on July 11th, 2007 5:29 am

    Nice colour, Sig, and easy to make too!

  4. Roopa on July 11th, 2007 5:38 am

    wow thats a easy and delicious dessert. I too have 2 packs of dates yet to be used. thks dear sometimes our own creations turn into delicious recipes right.

  5. Meeta on July 11th, 2007 5:53 am

    What a fantastic easy to make dessert. My mum normally sends me dates from Dubai and I love them. I normally eat them plain, but this dessert is to good!

  6. Jyothsna on July 11th, 2007 6:11 am

    Thanks fr the visit, the lychee yoghurt was an old one, didn’t think anyone would read that now…:) I’ve yet to read the pudding recipe…See ya again!

  7. Jyothsna on July 11th, 2007 6:16 am

    Read thru now… nice and easy recipe. Can I pressure cook the milk+date mixture and then sieve and puree it? It would take much less than 30 mins then…

  8. Sig on July 11th, 2007 6:26 am

    Sra, isn’t it easy? Most my recipes are easy, but I think this is the easiest dessert so far :)

    Roopa, at least the ones that we blog about :D, many a creation of mine had travelled directly from the stove to the trashcan :D

    Meeta, this might be a little too simple for you, the queen of desserts :D

    Jyo, :) I was just over at your place and somehow ended up at the lychee post, it sounded fabulous and had to leave a comment. :). Great idean on pressure cooking, you are right, that will really cut down the cooking time…

  9. Coffee on July 11th, 2007 6:49 am

    Cool dessert!! And what a lovely colour is gives. :D

  10. Vcuisine on July 11th, 2007 8:46 am

    A lovely dessert Sig. Quite interesting recipe. Viji

  11. Raaga on July 11th, 2007 11:06 am

    Thanks Sig… I have some 3-4 kilos of cashews sitting in my pantry… will use them in this :-)

  12. Raaga on July 11th, 2007 11:09 am

    and oh yeah, I totally agree about us blogging only about the successful experiments :-) Just last night my hubby was saying that in our 9 months of marriage, I have only made a terrible dish once… and believe me, it was a lunchbox disaster. I took pictures before I tasted it and trashed the pictures the same time I trashed the contents of the cooker.

  13. Anita on July 11th, 2007 11:29 am

    and served like that it is a stunner too…

    If you still have some left - try this: remove stone, add a few drops of ghee (should be more but who can afford to do that today?!), insert the pecan/walnut. Eat/Serve. :-D

  14. Bharathy on July 11th, 2007 11:37 am

    Thatz a healthy, heavenly dessert..:)..I am falling for it,Sig!!!

  15. Richa on July 11th, 2007 1:02 pm

    hey sig, that looks AWESOME! at any point of time i’ve 3 kinds of dates with me, one kind to make chutney, mejdool to snack on and coco/date rolls :) will make this soon. BTW never knew dates are to be skinned, first time hearing that!! did i mention i like dates ;)

  16. Asha on July 11th, 2007 1:15 pm

    I do have Dates in the fridge,will try making this Pudding.Love the color.I might add Walnuts there!:))
    It’s Wednesday Sig,one more to catch up!:D

  17. Mishmash ! on July 11th, 2007 1:30 pm

    Sig,i think your dream of a television show will get materialised soon…see u re whipping up your own inventions :) Pudding looks good :)

    Shn

  18. Lata on July 11th, 2007 1:33 pm

    I have been trying to make this from long, have seen it (similar one) in a cookbook of mine. This looks so great and awesome, I feel like trying this right away.

  19. shilpa(Aayisrecipes) on July 11th, 2007 2:52 pm

    My refrigerator always overflows…but as you said, mine also has half expired items which go straight into trash(mom gasped with horror when I threw a big pack of carrots because they were expired..haha)
    This pudding looks very good. So far I have been just making data cake. I will have to try this pudding sometime.

  20. musical on July 11th, 2007 3:28 pm

    Love that dessert! easy breezy!

    my fridge is usually packed up (and at times few things go bad without using!) i know, feels bad!!

    but i love dates, so will make this :).

  21. bee on July 11th, 2007 4:16 pm

    so fabulous. this will also work with dried figs, methinks.

  22. Suganya on July 11th, 2007 6:41 pm

    I love dates and pista combo. Lemme try that.

  23. Cynthia on July 12th, 2007 3:37 am

    I usually have an internal conversation with myself - is this a want or a need :)

    Puddling looks filling hon.

  24. Archana, mama of twins on July 12th, 2007 4:23 am

    The only thing substantial from your list that I have is dates… now i have to go buy nuts, juice, nonfat milk, gelatin!! Its the old adage buying a horse cause you have a saddle? That would be me!!

    So, i want to make it but some other day!? OK! Thanks for the share.

  25. Jyothi on July 12th, 2007 4:56 am

    Hi Sig, great and healthy recipe. Looks lovely. Thanks for sharing.

  26. indosungod on July 12th, 2007 11:41 am

    Oooh! Cool Pudding. Sure have all the ingredients to try this one right away.

  27. Sharmi on July 12th, 2007 8:52 pm

    that is a very beautiful recipe. looks so delicious. you use gelatin very often right?

  28. USHA on July 12th, 2007 10:12 pm

    Hi Sig,

    Delicious, awesome pudding…healthy dessert too..Liked your recipe verymuch…Thanks for sharing.

  29. Karin on July 13th, 2007 9:26 pm

    Your pudding looks smooth like a mousse. Date & Pecan, what a delicious combination!

  30. Lera on July 14th, 2007 4:00 am

    That’s a unique dessert,infact a droolworthy picture to go with it,Lovely recipe:)

  31. Amy on July 14th, 2007 10:01 pm

    Dates and pecans, what a combo! I’m definitely making this soon. Yum!

  32. Padmaja on July 16th, 2007 11:43 am

    great combination Sig!!!
    Looks like you and siv had a nice time relishing it!!!

  33. Padma on July 16th, 2007 4:08 pm

    Thats really a fat free, low in sugar and high in fiber, Dieter’s dream recipe which is very fast and easy, Have to try this for sure. I guess we can play with those nutty flavors too! as am not big fan of pecans. Well I am a new blogger and when time permits do visit me at
    http://padmaskitchen.blogspot.com

  34. Taste of Mysore on July 17th, 2007 6:06 am

    Lovely recipe Sig. I liked the color of the pudding.

  35. Shantanu on July 17th, 2007 1:36 pm

    Dates are always yummy! This one looks great too… :)

  36. Sia on July 18th, 2007 12:57 pm

    hw abt little bit of figs???? mmm…i can almost taste it:) long time no see(i know it applies to me also:) hw r u girl? enjoying with ur folks?

  37. Sukanya Ramkumar on July 18th, 2007 1:22 pm

    Ur pudding has nice colour….. Lovely photos….Love it…

  38. DEEPA on July 18th, 2007 3:59 pm

    awesome sig …you rock lady dessert is too good …i wish i could have the glass in the pic …sorry if i am late on commenting …..

  39. Priyanka on July 18th, 2007 9:57 pm

    Great recipe Sig. Thanks for sharing.

  40. Cinnamon on July 19th, 2007 7:58 am

    Great recipe, the color looks so pleasant… The dessert is too good!!!

  41. Sandeepa on July 19th, 2007 2:13 pm

    That looks easys as long as I don’t spray the kitchen while using the hand mixer, or my pudding refuses to set :)

  42. Dumela = Rachna on July 19th, 2007 4:13 pm

    i love the picture, not a big date fan

  43. Sig on July 19th, 2007 7:44 pm

    Coffee, Viji, thanks :)

    Raaga, cashew nuts will go great with this. Let me know how it goes… and yeah, we all have our kitchen disaster stories.. :)

    Anita, thanks for that recipe… that is simple enough, and will be trying as soon as I get some more dates… which will be a while now, since I’ve had an overdose :)

    Bharathy, thanks :)

    Richa, lol you are a date fan, aren’t you? :) .. And skinning the dates, you know I don’t know if its possible, but the skins sure changed the texture of the dish.. I was thinking that if there is a way to remove the skin, that would really make it a more smoother creamier dessert. :)

    Asha, been so busy lately, but I will drop by to catch up with your 101st post. :)

    Shn… , lol… that will be the day :D. Just read in Forbes that Rachael Ray made about 8 mil last year… sigh….

    Lata, hey, so the cookbook stole my idea….? :D:D … let me know if they had a way of improving the texture…

    Shilpa, lol my mom is like that too… thats why I cleaned up the pantry before she came, she will get a heart attach if she saw how much stuff I waste :)

    Musie… yeah when we grocery shop, there is a plan for each and every ingredient… but once these get into the fridge, most are forgotten till they turn into unidentifiable smelly organisms.. :)

    Bee,yeah, figs should work too… I will try that next time, since I don’t want to buy dates for a looong time now :)

    Suganya, I think pista will be better than pecans, but pecans were what I had at hand…

    Cyn, want or need… that is the question… :) for me everything I buy are Must Have items

    Archana, lol… thats exactly how I operate too…thats how I end up with so much junk in my fridge and pantry… You made the right decision to postpone it to another day… :D

    Jyothi, Indo thanks :)

    Sharmi, thanks.. Yes I do use a lot of gelatin :) always have it in stock, for easy breezy desserts… I tried agar, but didn’t like the taste much. :(

    Usha, Karin, Lera, Amy, thanks :)

    Padmaja, yep Siv and I and my parents too… it is good to make desserts now, with four people in the house…we don’t tend to over indulge… :)

    Padma, thanks, and you have a great blog…Nice work!

    TOM, Shantanu, thanks :)

    Sup, hey good to see you girl, yep life’s been too busy lately… deadlines at work… :( Will be coming by soon for a visit . :)

    Sukanya, thanks :)

    Deepa, better late than never right? I have been missing too many posts from all my blogger friends lately :(

    Priyanka, Cinnamon thanks :)

    Sandeepa, :) Lol spraying the kitchen, or your clothes is a real possiblity… but gelatin has never failed me so far :)

    Dumela, ahem… I mean Rachna :) so you don’t like dates? try figs instead then :)

  44. SteamyKitchen on July 20th, 2007 5:36 pm

    Wow, that pudding looks so good and so simple to make.

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