A Recipe for Coconut Bread Pudding (Puding Kelapa Muda)
Make way for another classic Indo-Dutch dessert
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Born in Manado, the capital city of North Sulawesi in Indonesia, during Dutch colonial times, klappertaart is a dessert that incorporates European techniques (i.e. the use of flour, butter, milk, and spices like cinnamon) with unmistakably Asian ingredients like young coconut (kelapa muda). It’s often described as a cross between a cake and a custard-like pudding, and Pat Tanumihardja—Indonesian-Chinese food writer and the author of “Mortar and Pestle”—says that the one she grew up with resembled a bread pudding. “Hence, I think calling it a coconut pudding (pudding kelapa muda) is more apt,” she says.
Before we get into this recipe—we’ve also featured another from Pat’s book last year, which you can check out below 😉:
Serves 6-8
3 large eggs
⅓ cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup coconut water
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
5 cups ½-inch cubed Japanese milk bread or brioche
1 cup frozen young coconut strips, thawed (canned or jarred are also fine)
¼ cup raisins
A handful of sliced almonds
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
Beat together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Add the coconut water and coconut milk. Fold in the bread cubes, followed by the young coconut. Allow the bread to soak up the custard mixture for at least 15 minutes.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the raisins and almonds. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until the liquid has set and the top is golden brown.
Recipe adapted from “Mortar and Pestle: Classic Indonesian Recipes for the Modern Kitchen” by Patricia Tanumihardja and Juliana Suparman. Copyright © 2024. Used with permission of Welden Owen. All rights reserved.