It is saturday night and I was craving some form of a hot desert but after making dinner I just couldn’t be bothered cleaning an area in my kitchen to cook (how I wish I was one of those people who could clean as they work). Also, my pantry is bare of chocolate and my fridge free of butter, the two staples for every dessert I make. This is a dire state; frantically I started pulling things from the cupboard until I found a lemon and a bag of semolina. My prayers were answered! I love a good semolina pudding! Easy to make, only one saucepan to clean and they taste like comfort…like a small puppy is sleeping in your stomach.

This specific pudding has a custardy texture that tastes creamy with a delightful tang from the lemons. It can be served hot or cold and is perfect with stewed fruit. Not bad for a 10-min-dessert-craving-invention.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk
2 pods Cardamom
6 tbsp Honey
1 tsp Rose water
2 Egg yolks
1/3 cup Olive oil
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 tbsp Lemon juice
3/4 cup Fine semolina

Yoghurt sauce:
1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp  Beerenberg Rose Jelly*

1. Heat the milk, cardamom, honey, rose water, yolks, lemon rind and oil in a saucepan stirring constantly until it begins to simmer, Remove from the heat.
2.  Sprinkle the semolina over the milk and stir briskly until combined (this is the point where speed is important. If you don’t stir the semolina quick enough it will turn lumpy). Return to a low heat add the lemon juice and stir for 2 min. Remove from the heat once it is a thick and gluggy consistency. At this stage you have two choices a) Spoon the pudding into bowls and serve it hot with lashings of stewed fruit and cream or b) Spoon the pudding into lightly greased dariole moulds (making sure to remove any air bubbles)  and set in the refrigerator until cool. Turn upside down onto a plate to free the pudding from the mould. Serve the pudding with rose yoghurt.

Rose Yoghurt:

I feel like a bit of a cheat for calling this a recipe as most of the work has been done by the fine people at Beerenburg, but I figured out what it tastes good with so I deserve at least a condescending pat on the back.

1. Mix Yoghurt and Rose Jelly together.

…see what I mean?

Now, go sit and enjoy and forget about the piles of dishes that are building in your sink…

*http://www.beerenberg.com.au/go/product/rose-petal-jelly-300g
I took a trip with my husband up to the Beerenberg farm in Adelaide last year when I discovered this jelly and it is ridiculously tasty. I always get a giddy feeling of joy knowing I’m eating flowers on my food.