The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone: [A Cookbook] / Madison, Deborah

Tangerine Pudding Cake with Raspberry Coulis

Usually a pudding cake is made with lemon, but here the zest and juice of ultra-sweet tangerines assume the citrus role. The exact variety isn’t crucial—I’ve used Pixie tanger¬ines, which peak in mid-April, Satsumas, which arrive in November, and those that fall in between, such as Honeybell, Page, Dancy, and so forth. A pudding cake requires a water bath, so be sure you have a large enough baking dish to hold your custard cups.

Serves 4-6

Pudding

• 3 eggs, separated
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons organic sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons finely grated tangerine zest
• 1 cup milk or light cream
• ⅓ cup tangerine juice (from 2 to 4 tangerines, depending on their size)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Raspberry Coulis (recipe follows)
• Softly whipped cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 4 custard cups or six smaller ramekins. Zest, then juice the tangerines. Put up a kettle of water to boil for the water bath.

Whisk the egg whites with the salt on medium speed until foamy. Increase the speed and gradually add 2 table¬spoons of the sugar and continue beating until the whites are thick and glossy. Scrape them into a large bowl. Rinse out the mixing bowl, wipe it dry, and return it to the mixer. Beat the butter with the remaining ½ cup sugar and tan¬gerine zest until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time. When well mixed, gradually pour in the milk and juice, then whisk in the flour.

Pour the batter over the whites and fold together. Distribute among the custard cups, then put the cups in a larger baking pan and add boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Bake until the tops have risen, are golden, and spring back when pressed with a finger, about 30 minutes. Remove them from the water bath. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature, the coulis drizzled over the puddings and with a small cloud of whipped cream.

Raspberry Coulis

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 cups frozen organic, unsweetened raspberries
• 3 tablespoons orange Muscat wine or other sweet wine, optional
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon or tangerine juice

Bring ⅔ cup water to a boil with the sugar, stir, and simmer until the sugar is dissolved. Add the raspber¬ries, simmer for 1 minute, then turn off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Force the juice through the sieve with a rubber scraper. Stir in the wine and the lemon juice, adding more to taste if needed, then chill.

Edamame and Sesame Puree on Black Seaweed Crackers

Well, this pale green puree would be good on sesame crackers too but looks so great against the black seaweed crackers. This is one use of soybeans I like.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for about 20 crackers.

• 1 ½ cups shelled fresh or frozen edamame beans (not in the pods)
• Sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon or more to taste Meyer lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon toasted black sesame seeds—more if you’re making crackers for a crowd
• 1 very thinly slivered green onion on the diagonal, for garnish

Bring a few cups of water to a boil. Add the edamame, a few pinches salt, and return to a simmer. Cook until they’re done, about 4 minutes, then drain, but reserve at least 1 cup of the cooking water.

Put the edamame in a food processor with the garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Pulse to puree, adding the reserved cooking water as needed to make the mixture smooth and creamy, about ½ cup but possibly more. Add lemon juice to taste and check again for salt.

Scrape the puree into a shallow bowl and run a knife back and forth over the top. Drizzle the remaining sesame oil over the top, then scatter over the sesame seeds and the green onions. Serve at room temperature with crackers, or mound the puree on each, add a few extra black sesame seeds and garnish with slivered green onion.