Tuesday, March 20, 2007

A shy Danish peasant girl, or simply a lovely Estonian rye bread and cream pudding

Here is a very-very-very simple and delightful Estonian pudding. There's a saying in Estonian - 'heal lapsel mitu nime' which translates roughly as 'a loved child has many names'. This one is either known as 'häbelik taluneiu' - a shy peasant girl, or 'taani talutüdruk' - a Danish country girl (hence the title:). It's a bit like a trifle - after all, it's layered fruit and cream and a floury element. Makes a good alternative to the Scottish cranachan-pudding, which isn't so dissimilar either.

I usually have this small trifle with lingonberry jam (check your local IKEA:) or not-too-sweet apple jam. As we had none in the house last weekend, then K. quickly made some jam from the last of last autumn's apples that my Mum had given us, and some of the frozen cranberries I had picked myself. If you're trying to recreate this pudding, then don't by the coarse whole grain rye bread for this one, but a smoother dark bread (pumpernickel is fine though).

Rye bread and cream pudding
(Häbelik taluneiu)
Serves 4



300 ml grated sour rye bread
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sugar
400 ml whipping cream (plus a teaspoon of sugar)
300-400 ml apple or lingonberry preserve

Heat the butter on a frying pan and fry the breadcrumbs and sugar for a few minutes, until browned and crispy. Remove from the heat and cool.
Whip the cream with a teaspoon or two of sugar until soft peaks form.
Layer the cream and bread mixture and jam into dessert bowls, garnish with some breadcrumbs.

Keep in the fridge until ready to serve (can be made up to 4 hours in advance) .

7 comments:

Alanna Kellogg said...

I like it! Seems like I've made a variation, maybe called Danish Pudding or similar? Not with rye bread, however, I like the idea of the contrast of the lingonberry (or apple/cranberry) with rye ...

Callipygia said...

I would like to try this for the name alone. I think this sounds so different with the rye/pumpernickel, earthy and simple. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

This looks absolutely delicious. I know it's meant to be a dessert, but I think I'm going to convince my brain that it is breakfast.

Thredahlia said...

Hihii, Taani talutüdruk :) Vanaema tegi seda, kui väiksed olime. Nüüd meeldib küpsisepuruga rohkem.

Anonymous said...

ooo, see on üks mu lemmikmagustoite pikki aastaid olnud, viimati tegin jõuludeks...

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! Thanks for posting this Pille! I just bought a big loaf of rye only to find out my husband doesn't eat it (I know, I should have done better research...hahaha!). While I am enjoying it with different toppings and spreads, I need more ways to use it up...this is perfect! AND, I just bought a bottle of lingonberry jam not too long ago...hooray!

Pille said...

Alanna - if you've made a Danish Pudding, then it may be similar indeed (as we call it a Danish peasant girl). I would have used lingonberry jam, but didn't have any in the house, but apple/cranberry was sharp n good contrast, too.

Callipygia - the name's rather sweet, isn't it?

YumSugar - you can certainly have this for breakfast, too. But maybe use yogurt or a mixture of yogurt and cream instead of plain whipped cream?

Thredahlia - meil on hetkel kindlasti rukkileivapuru faas. K. on hommikuti jogurti peale seda puistanud lihtsalt:-)

Maarja - rõõm kuulda! Mul oli väike paus sisse jäänud, aga hetkel on väga "in".

Joey - it's definitely a good way to use up some of the rye bread - especially as you've even got lingonberry jam in the house!