Recipe: Buttermilk Pudding

I had some buttermilk in my fridge. I wanted to use it up and so this conversation with myself happened. 

Okay. I want to make something sweet... I have this buttermilk I want to use up. Used it for making pancakes. Damn, that was a good recipe.  

Let's check the internet... No, nothing quite right. Um, Let's check Fanny, Joy and Bittman... No?! 

What the hell?  

This should be super easy. I mean it is just a custard. And buttermilk is such an old fashioned thing. Why isn't there anything out there? Okay, maybe I'll try sour milk pudding.  

Got a few hits there but they are all so measured. I guess I'm going to have to wing it.

Turns out, old fashioned cooking doesn't always make it to the internet. So, I made something up. Before I share what I did, I guess I'll tell a little story about buttermilk. It is a tangy and viscous milk product that provides .... nah, my dad used to drink the stuff. He would be left with an odd smelling glass and a bit of thick white mustache. Mom called it sour, disgusting and like snot. She isn't totally wrong. I love using it in baking and in desserts. I have never quite got used to having it as a cold drink. Then again, I don't drink milk either.

So, I had about two cups of milk and it turned out I was short on vanilla. I looked at what I had in the cupboard and put together some flavours that I would thought work. Added some eggs and flour and cooked it until done.  I had added some orange blossom water and orange zest. My son thought it tasted like all the citrus. Combined with the tang of the buttermilk and the scant vanilla made it taste like something really fresh and flowery and nothing like a custard. Anyway, here is the recipe.

Orange Blossom Buttermilk Pudding

2 cups buttermilk

4 eggs

1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ginger

splash of orange blossom water (can omit and add extra vanilla or some other flavouring, but then you have to change the name. Rosewater would be good)

zest of one orange

Preheat oven to 350F.

Beat sugar and eggs together until creamy. Add flour and mix. Add remaining ingredients (buttermilk, vanilla, ginger, orange blossom water, and zest). Mix and pour into a pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Check to see if center is still liquid. I jiggle it. If it is still liquid, cook for another few minutes. I tend to use five minute increments. Once firm. Take out and cool. 

This has an interesting floral flavour when warm. I don't think it is for everyone's palate. But folks that I have shared it with like it even though they don't like custard textures. So, there is that. When cooler, the orange notes are more dominant. I think it would be good to serve with some type of simple syrup or maple syrup.