Fruit Custard Layered Pudding

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Fruit Custard Layered Pudding

Fruit Custard Layered Pudding is a delightful, creamy treat made with layers of Indian Rusk (similar to Italian Biscotti), eggless custard, and seasonal fruits. It’s an ideal chilled dessert for summer enjoyment.

This is my ‘shortcut’ recipe because I use custard powder to whip up a quick 15-minute dish. If time allows, you’re welcome to prepare fresh custard. I opt for eggless vanilla custard powder, which I find enhances the natural flavours of the various fruits added. However, feel free to experiment with other custard flavours like banana or mango, which also complement this recipe well.

This simple and speedy Fruit Custard Layered Pudding recipe is sure to become a summer favorite. Brimming with fresh, seasonal fruits, it caters to all dietary preferences. This simple and easy recipe offers a perfect mix of sweet and zesty flavours.

Other recipes you might like to try are:

Orange Pudding/Santre ki Kheer, and

Mango Pistachio sandesh.

Ingredients

For the Custard
1 litre whole fat milk
6 tablespoons vanilla custard powder
½ cup sugar

For Assembling
7-8 Indian Cake Rusk/Italian Biscotti
½ cup milk (to mix custard powder)
½ cup milk (To soak rusk)
¼ cup finely chopped strawberries
½ cup finely chopped green grapes
½ cup finely chopped bananas
½ cup finely chopped sapota (chickoo)
½ cup finely chopped apple
½ cup pomegranate seeds

Directions

Step-1

Pour the milk in a pan and let the milk come to a boil. Heat the milk for around 5-7 minutes on low heat. Stir in between so that the milk does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Step-2

Next, add sugar and mix. Keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

While the milk is boiling, add 2-3 tablespoons of warm milk to the custard powder and whisk. Make sure there are no lumps in the custard. You can add more milk if needed to make a smooth consistency. It should almost be like a thick batter or double cream consistency. I always use room temperature or warm milk to mix with custard as hot milk can sometimes curdle the custard.

Step-3

Once the milk has boiled for 5-7 minutes turn off the heat and add the prepared lump free custard powder in the milk and stir it continuously to mix everything together until the custard has thickened to a thick smooth consistency.

Turn off the heat and keep it aside to cool.

Once the custard has come to room temperature, transfer it to a bowl and cool it in the fridge for 1-2 hours until chilled.

Step-4

Once the custard is chilled, whisk it to a smooth consistency.

For assembling, soak the rusk in the milk for 30 seconds and layer it in a serving dish.

Step-5

Layer the chilled custard over the rusk and then layer the custard with fruits. Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours before serving.

Tips & Variations

It is better to use whole fat milk for the best desired results. It makes the dessert creamy, rich thick consistency to the dessert.
You can add seasonal fruits like mango, blueberries, papaya and black grapes.
I always avoid sour fruits like kiwi, pineapple, oranges, mandarins as it can curdle the custard.
Always stir the milk while boiling to avoid it catching on the bottom of the pan.
Keep the top of the custard covered with clingfilm whilst cooling to prevent a film forming on the surface.
Ensure you cool down the custard milk cream properly because if you add the fruit if it is warm, the custard will split.
For best results, chop the fruit just before adding to the custard to prevent them from oxidizing.
You can also add cardamom powder, and some nuts, to flavour the custard.
Always serve fruit custard chilled as it enhances the flavour of the fruit custard.
You can adjust the sugar to your liking. Fruits bring their own sweetness hence I don’t like adding too much sugar.
Rusk is very similar to Italian biscotti. Rusk is a twice-baked cake/bread. There are two kinds of rusk that are very popular in India, one is called cake rusk and the other one is milk rusk. Cake Rusk is simply twice-baked cake and milk rusk is twice baked enriched bread. If you can’t find rusk then feel free to use Italian Biscotti.