Friday, February 08, 2008

Whipped Cream, Caramelized Bread



I'm in the mood for simple Estonian desserts lately. Take this one - you fry some grated sour rye bread in butter with sugar until crispy and caramelized, then fold into whipped cream and serve with jam. In the matter of minutes you've got an excellent quick pudding. And if grating bread seems like too much work, then you can just use ready-made rye bread crumbs available in the supermarket (that's what I do). The dessert is very similar to Shy Danish Country Girl pudding and not too dissimilar to the Scottish Cranachan pudding, but still distinctive enough to deserve a separate post.

Enjoy!

Estonian Rye Bread Dessert with Whipped Cream
(Vahukoore-leivakreem)
Serves 4

120 g dryish rye bread
1 Tbsp butter
100 ml sugar
0.25 tsp cinnamon
300 ml whipping cream + 2 Tbsp sugar

To serve:
some nice jam

Grate the bread and fry on the pan with butter and sugar until caramelised (do not burn!). Season with cinnamon and put aside to cool completely.
Whisk the cream with 2 Tbsp of sugar until soft peaks form. Fold in the cooled crispy rye bread mixture.
Spoon into dessert glasses and top with some nice jam. It's best to use some jam with some sharpness - be it apple and flowering quince jam (on the photo) or apple and lingonberry jam or such like.

Eat at once to enjoy the caramelized gritty breadcrumbs or wait until later for the breadcrumbs to soften again.

24 comments:

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Couldn't be any easier, really, could it? But it sounds delicious! I'm off to get some rye bread right now!

MEM said...

Wow, I thought my wife invented caramelized toast a few weeks ago! She served hers with creme fraiche and a strawberry-rhubarb compote...we'll have to try this one too.

Patricia Scarpin said...

What a different dessert, Pille! I have never seen anything like it and would love to try it.

Mariajaan said...

I also think it is quiet original and I am sure that it tastes great! I like the fact that it can be served in many different ways, just like ice cream, just more caloric...mmmhhh...this, I must confess, never deters me!
Would you continue blogging regularly now that you have the URL "ee" in Estonian? I certainly hope so! As I have realized lately you are in the blogroll of very important culinary sites!
Best.

Meeta K. Wolff said...

This gives "bread pudding" a whole new look and taste. Love it.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

So many of your recipes surprise me so with their simpleness. I really am always intrigued! This looks so good!

Andrew said...

And I was sooo looking for a healthy pud this week... temptress! :-)

Anonymous said...

That does look wonderful, Pille - it reminds me of brown bread ice cream, which I tried once in Ireland. Too bad I can't buy rye bread pre-crumbed here, though I really shouldn't complain since the Polish explosion in Edinburgh has meant that good rye bread can be found nearly everywhere these days!

Brilynn said...

I've never heard of this before, sounds great!

Johanna GGG said...

this looks really interesting - I am planning to make a bread with rye in it today so if it doesn't get gobbled up immediately I might get a chance to try it

Gloria Baker said...

Looks so nice Pille, I never heard before this dessert I love the breadcrumbs! xx Gloria

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Wow, that sounds amazing and amazingly decadent!

Featheronawire Sally Bramald said...

Oh dear, I wish I HAD NEVER FOUND YOUR BLOG!
The food is to die for, I cannot just cannot read it again. I've worked hard, I've lost 2 stone and here you are leading me astray......
(grin)
Sally

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

I've never heard of a dessert like this -- what an interesting idea, grated bread. Will definitely have to try it.

Lore said...

I'm going for the gritty breadcrumbs Pille :).
Just perfect for me!
There is a dessert recipe from my home region that uses a combination of gritty breadcrumbs, sugar and creme fraiche...but there is also some dough involved.

Tiina said...

Wow! I will definitely want to try this! Looks and sounds delicious!

Annemarie said...

Mmmm. A bit like a creamier french toast or bread and butter pudding. Love the thought of this.

lobstersquad said...

that sounds like a perfect instant answer to crumble, brilliant! I do the savoury version often , for pasta, so this makes perfect sense.

Karolina Beaudet said...

I've never seen such thing before. What a great way of using leftover rye bread:)

Helene said...

What a great idea! Totally trying this one soon!

said...

Just did it and ate it and it´s amazing how the bread and the whipped cream just go together. I also used just a bit ice cream to make it colder as i could not wait for the bread crumbs to chill completely and freshly crushed cranberries (jõhvika toormoos noh :) Deeelicious!

Pille said...

aforkfulofspaghetti – good luck with finding the rye bread!!

MEM – oh no, your wife must have seen this Estonian invention somewhere :)

Patricia – it’s funny how something that’s so common here in Estonia is so foreign and unusual elsewhere :)

MariaJaan – of course I’ll continue blogging :) I’ve had the Estonian site since 2001 or so, and it hasn’t deterred me from blogging so far...

Meeta – good. And finding rye bread should be a doddle for you!

Tanna – thank you! I do cook simple dishes, so this is no different..

Andrew – temptress (of a culinary kind) is my middle name indeed. But then I did post those poached pear recipes recently :)

Melissa – I’d be more than happy to ship you some, if Polish shops should fail you!

Johanna – this is especially good, as you can use leftover hardened rye bread for this.

Sally – welcome to Nami-nami, and hope you’ll manage to stay on your track while still enjoying my blog :)

Lore – I prefer this with gritty breadcrumbs, too ;) Will you tell us more about your local dessert?

Annemarie – well, kind of :)

Lobstersquad – I’m intrigued by your savoury version! And I think I’ll know what to pack along in March :)

Karolcia – indeed!

Marjusass – rõõm kuulda :) Cranberry jam is a good addition – something sour, something sweet, something creamy, something gritty :)

Tartelette, Cinnamonda, Lydia, Holler, Gloria, Brilynn – thank you!

Anonymous said...

Sure I will Pille. I don't have the right to keep anything delicious from the world :). I will post about it on my blog, and email you the link as soon as publish it, ok?
And welcome back from your skiing getaway!

Anonymous said...

Pille brought me us a bag of ground rye, so I had to make some. It was very good, and the caramelized bread is definitely going into our repertoire of dessert condiments.