Posted Saturday, September 18, 2004
INGREDIENTS (should serve 6)
1 loaf Cuban bread
4 cups of milk
4 eggs
2 – 3 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons of vanilla
1 ¼ cup of drained fruit cocktail
1 tablespoon of butter
1 stick of cinnamon
1 small lemon peel
¼ cup of raisins and chopped almonds
1/8 tablespoon of salt
PREPARATION
Not entirely sure whether the ‘diplomat’ in this desserts name is attributable to the fact that the dessert is so delicious it is sure to resolve any conflict at your dinning-table, or to the fact that it is so rich that its rightful place is at a State dinner! Either way, this is a sure-fire way of impressing your guests! To prepare the diplomatic pudding you’ll need to have a mixing bowl into which you crumble some Cuban bread. Once you’ve done this you pour 4 cups of milk into the bowl and then you let the mixture stand for approximately 45 minutes while the bread soaks up the milk. While you’re waiting for this to happen, you can be making your caramel syrup. To make caramel syrup you need to heat 1½ cups of sugar and heat – remove it from the burner once and then re-heat until it reaches a caramel brown color. Having made the caramel, you pour this into a rectangular mold. Be sure to make sure the sides are well and truly covered. Then, take you 4 eggs and beat these with your leftover sugar and vanilla and pour this into the standing milk and bread bowl. Add some well-drained fruit cocktail, almonds and raisins and then give all of the resulting mixture a really good mix. Once you have a really well mixed mixture, pour the contents of the bowl into the caramel-covered mold and bake for one hour at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Once you have finished baking, let the mold cool down before taking the mold off. The cover the pudding and refrigerate before serving to some hungry and happy guests!