Queen of Puddings
A weeknight-friendly vegetarian built around fresh white breadcrumbs and raspberry jam — roughly 65 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 7 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for oven and saucepan. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (2)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Heat the oven to 170 C (340 F) and lightly butter a 1.2 litre baking dish. Warm the milk with the butter, the caster sugar and the lemon zest in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling, then remove from the heat.
- Stir the breadcrumbs into the warm milk and leave to stand for about 10 minutes so they soften and swell.
- Beat the egg yolks lightly, then mix them into the cooled breadcrumb mixture and pour it all into the prepared dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until just set with a slight wobble in the centre.
- Gently warm the raspberry jam to loosen it, then spread it carefully over the surface of the baked custard base.
- Whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl to soft peaks, then add the vanilla sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking to a stiff, glossy meringue.
- Spoon or pipe the meringue over the jam, covering it right to the edges, and swirl the top into soft peaks.
- Return to the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the meringue is set and lightly golden. Serve warm.
You'll use: Oven · Saucepan · Pan · Whisk · Baking dish
Ingredient substitutions
- Milk
- any unsweetened plant milk · ½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water
- Lemon
- lime · 1 tbsp white wine vinegar per lemon
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
- Eggs
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (baking) · 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water per egg
Tips & common questions
How long does Queen of Puddings take to make?
About 65 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 8 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of milk?
Try any unsweetened plant milk. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Queen of Puddings vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Queen of Puddings is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Queen of Puddings - Süti Sári.png by Süti Sári, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.