Tag Archives: sago pudding

I have mixed feelings about Autumn. I don’t like the colder weather, the rain or the wind. On the other hand, plums are still in season at the moment and they’re magnificent.

I love plums for their pretty hues, their friendly portability (they are great for lunch boxes) and their tart berry flavours. They’re lovely eaten just as they are but they’re equally good in a crumble or cake, too. Check out my Upside Down Plum Cake baked in honour of my childhood heroine, Anne of Green Gables.

I also like stewing plums. Refrigerated in an airtight container, stewed plums can be added to cereal or porridge in the morning, or to ice-cream, yoghurt, sago or rice pudding for a sweet treat. This dessert — Plum & Sago Pots — merely takes that simple idea one step further, adding a base of biscuit crumbs and simple nut and pomegranate seed garnish.

I make a variation of this dessert — see my Rhubarb Apple Yoghurt Pots — when I have people coming for dinner and I don’t have time to make a proper dessert. You simply cut up the fruit and stew it in a little water with spices and honey. Then once the fruit is cool, layer biscuits crumbs, your choice of middle (yoghurt, sago or rice pudding – you can buy ready-made in a pinch), and top with an appropriate nut and fruit garnish. Too easy, right? Keep these in the refrigerator until 10 minutes before you want to eat it.

There’s something very satisfying about an individually-portioned dessert – it appeases the greedy little kid in me who wants to wrap my arms around a full-sized dessert and yell, “MINE! MINE! IT’S ALL MINE!!” And if you do have any leftovers — which I can’t promise — these Plum and Sago Pots are great for breakfast the next day, too.

Enjoy! xx

Plum and Sago Pots

INGREDIENTS

• 800 grams plums
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons honey or rice malt syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract or essence + 1 more teaspoon
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 packet gingerbread or ginger nut biscuits (approx. 200 grams)
• 1/2 cup tapioca/sago (about 90 grams)
• 1/2 cup sugar (about 90 grams)
• 3 cups milk
• 1 pomegranate – you’ll only need a 2 tablespoon of the seeds
• 50 grams roasted pistachios, shelled and chopped roughly

METHOD

1. Stone plums and then cut into quarters.
2. Place plums, water, honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla and cinnamon into a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
3. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, bring tapioca, sugar, milk and 1 more teaspoon vanilla to boil in a small saucepan.
5. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for around 20 minutes until tapioca is soft and translucent. Let cool.
6. Meanwhile, use a food processor to grind biscuits to a fine crumb.
7. To serve layer biscuit crumbs, sago, and fruit in four medium glasses and garnish with pomegranate seeds and pistachios. 
8. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until required.

NOTES

• Serves 4
• In Australia, sago and tapioca are sometimes labelled as the same thing. I used what was labelled ‘Sago (Seed Tapioca)’ for this recipe.

More Fruity Dessert Recipes

• Fig and Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
• Strawberry and Rhubarb Upside Down Cake
• Raspberry Pomegranate Layered Pavlova
• Sponge Cake with Berries and Cherries
• Passionfruit Sago Puddings

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Last week I was lucky to spend three days on Hamilton Island for the start of Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, Australia’s largest offshore yachting regatta. It was ultra glam and très chic and I did my best to nod intelligently to the sailing talk while outfitted in my approximation of ‘resort chic.’

I have oodles of lovely photos and experiences from Hamilton Island to share with you over the next few weeks but in the meantime, I want to share this lovely Passionfruit Sago Pudding with you.

This dessert is inspired by the dessert at the spectacular ’30’ dinner I attended on Sunday night to celebrate 30 years of the Race by Shannon Bennet of Vue de Monde and four of his proteges – Jim McDougall of Stefano’s, Josh Lewis of Loam, Cory Campbell of Vue de Monde and Darren Purchese of Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio.

I didn’t actually taste the sago dessert at the dinner — I had a berry jelly dessert instead — but I’ve used  palm sugar, ginger, star anise and coconut to  bring out the tropical, feel-good flavour of the passionfruit. The ’30’ dessert  looked completely different to mine, too — my presentation is much less fancy — so please consider this a homage rather than a pale imitation.

If you’ve never cooked with sago (tapioca) before, don’t be scared. Tapioca is really cheap and really straightforward to cook – you just bung it in a saucepan with some water. Honestly. It’s not hard. You can do it. And your reward will be these delightful little sago puddings that remind me of long, lazy days spent happily in the sun.

Passionfruit Sago Puddings

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup water
• 100 grams palm sugar
• 1 star anise
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean essence
• 4 cups water
• 3/4 cup sago (tapioca)
• 1/3 cup coconut cream
• 8 best quality ginger cookies (about 140 grams)
• 8 passionfruit
• 5 tablespoons shredded coconut

METHOD

• Make sugar syrup by placing 1 cup water, palm sugar, star anise + vanilla bean essence in a small pot.
• Bring to the boil and then cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes until mixture has reduced and become syrupy.
• Cook sago by placing 4 cups water + sago in a medium pot.
• Bring to the boil and then simmer for around 15 minutes, stirring regularly.
• Strain tapioca through a colander (sieve) and then place in a large bowl.
• Add sugar syrup and coconut cream to sago and mix to combine thoroughly.
• Grind biscuits in a food processor until it reassembles bread crumbs.
• Divide the biscuit mixture into four medium cups evenly.
• Spoon over sago mixture and then refrigerate for at least an hour.
• Meanwhile, toast the shredded coconut by stirring it in a dry pan (don’t use oil) over a medium heat until it starts to turn brown. Remove and set aside.
• To serve, spoon the passionfruit pulp over the top of the sago and garnish with toasted coconut.

Serves 4.

Dietary Notes: dairy free, nut free, vegan, and vegetarian. Can also be gluten-free if you use gluten-free biscuits as I did. 

{ Disclosure: I visited Hamilton Island as a guest of the island.}