Wattleseed and quandong puddings with white chocolate

Ingredients

• 400 g butter
• 400 g sugar
• 320 ml milk (or as needed)
• 4 cups self-raising flour
• 8 tbsp quandong, wattleseed and apricot mix (see Note)
• 8 squares white chocolate
• Canned coconut milk, to serve
• Caramel sauce, to serve

Start this recipe a day ahead, so the fruit can soak overnight.

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 200°C / 180° fan-forced.

2. Cream butter and sugar. Slowly add enough milk, stirring, until you have a smooth, thick, spoonable mixture. Add flour and quandong, apricot and wattleseed mixture to the wet ingredients. Stir until the ingredients are evenly combined.

3. Distribute the mixture among eight mugs or ceramic pots. Top each pudding with a piece of white chocolate.

4. Place in a large pot or dish (Bob uses a camp oven when cooking these outdoors.  add boiling water to the dish so it comes halfway up the pudding cups. Place in oven (or cover with  coals) and cook for 12-15 minutes. Stir together caramel sauce and coconut milk and serve with puddings.  

Note

• For the fruit and wattleseed mix, the following amounts are a suggestion. Adjust the proportions to suit your taste. Soak approximately half a cup of dried apricots and a quarter cup of dried quandong in water overnight, then roughly chop. Soak two tablespoons of wattleseeds in warm water until softened. Stir together, then use in puddings.

• As seen in Outback Gourmet, Bob (Penuka) Taylor cooks these in the coals of a camp fire, but has also given an oven alternative here for home cooks. You can find out more about his central Australia tours, which combine food, country and culture, at the RT Tours website. Bob’s camp fire meals and tours combine his Indigenous heritage and his training as a chef.