Skip the oven and steam the custard pudding on the stovetop! In 10 minutes, you have a soft, rich, creamy Japanese Custard Pudding that will impress your dinner guests or wow your family.
The Japanese love Custard Pudding! We call it “Purin” (プリン) and you will find this custard pudding throughout Japan in bakeries, pastry shops, supermarkets, and convenience stores. There are many flavors of custard pudding in Japan, ranging from chocolate to pumpkin to green tea.
I want to share with you an easy way to make custard pudding at home. I previously posted a no-bake/no-steam Crème Caramel, but that recipe is more tedious, and I know many of you are looking for a quick custard pudding recipe that is just as delicious. Today’s custard pudding recipe is SUPER easy, and when I say easy, I really mean it. It doesn’t take much time to prepare and tastes heavenly. This is a great homemade dessert to impress your guests for dinner parties, or as a surprise for your family. You won’t believe how simple it is until you make it. Just mix the ingredients, steam, refrigerate, and enjoy the custard pudding!
How to Steam Custard Pudding on a Stove Top?
Whether custard pudding is baked or steamed, it is referred to as Purin in Japan. The steamed version – cooked on a stovetop in a steamer or in a blain-marie in a pot or frying pan – is specifically named Mushi Pudding (蒸しプリン). This steamed custard pudding recipe happens to be one of my family’s favorite desserts, so I make this quite often and can guarantee it is easy to make.
Japanese households generally do not have ovens, so to make custard pudding at home, we love to steam it on the stovetop. To steam custard pudding, you simply combine eggs, sugar, milk, and vanilla, pour into individual ramekins, add them into a deep skillet with a water base, cover to steam for 10 minutes, and that’s it! A custard pudding recipe without an oven. You can keep it that quick for a basic custard pudding, or follow a few more steps below to make a caramel sauce for a steamed version of Crème Caramel.
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Custard Pudding
Ingredients
For Custard Pudding
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
For Caramel Sauce
- 3 Tbsp water
- 1 ½ Tbsp sugar
- 1 ½ Tbsp hot water
Instructions
To Make Custard Pudding
- Gather all the ingredients. You will need 4 6-oz ramekins.
- Wrap the lid with the kitchen cloth to prevent the water dripping onto custard pudding from condensation. Fill the large skillet with water about 1-inch height and start boiling water.
- Combine eggs and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk very well.
- Add milk and vanilla and whisk all together.
- Run the mixture through a fine sieve and divide the mixture into individual ramekins.
- Once water is boiling, turn the heat to low and place the ramekins into the skillet gently. Cover with the lid and steam the custard pudding for 10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat but do not open the lid. Steam with remaining heat for another 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, let it cool on the wire rack. When it’s room temperature, move to the refrigerator to chill, for about 2-3 hours.
To Make Caramel Sauce
- Before serving, make the caramel sauce. Place 3 Tbsp water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until sugar has dissolved.
- When the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat to high and swirl the saucepan once in a while to caramelize evenly. The mixture will start to bubble. It will take some time for the mixture to turn from a light amber color to a dark amber color.
- When the mixture turns to a desired brown color, add 1 ½ Tbsp water. The mixture will bubble vigorously, so be careful. Whisk the mixture and turn off the heat.
- Set aside to cool completely. If the caramel is too hard after cooling, reheat it and add more water. Pour the caramel sauce over the custard pudding and serve.
To Store
- You can keep the pudding in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Enjoy it sooner!
