Hojicha Purin
A firm, silky Japanese custard pudding with caramel on the bottom, flavoured with toasty hojicha (roasted green tea). Pour the custard into cups and bake them all at once. It's one of the cheapest and least hands-on desserts on the menu.
- Yield: ~45 cups of 100 ml
- Equipment: hob, combi oven (steam mode) or convection oven with water bath, blast chiller
- Allergens: milk, egg · Gluten-free
Ingredients
Caramel
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sugar | 400 g |
| Water (for cooking) | 100 g |
| Hot water (to stop the caramel) | 100 g |
Custard
| Ingredient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Milk | 2500 g |
| Cream | 500 g |
| Hojicha powder (or 60 g loose hojicha leaves) | 40 g |
| Sugar | 330 g |
| Whole eggs | 1000 g (~20) |
| Egg yolks | 300 g (~15) |
Method
- Caramel: cook the sugar and water in a pan without stirring until deep amber. Take off the heat and carefully pour in the hot water (it will spit). Swirl until smooth. Pour about 10 g into the bottom of each heat-proof cup and let it set.
- Infuse: heat the milk and cream to just below boiling. Whisk in the hojicha powder (or add the leaves, steep for 10 min, then strain and top up with milk to the original weight). Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
- Whisk the eggs and yolks together gently, without making foam. Slowly pour in the warm milk while whisking.
- Strain through a fine sieve and skim off any foam. This is what makes it silky.
- Fill the cups to about 100 ml on top of the set caramel.
- Bake:
- Combi: steam mode at 85 °C for 25–35 min.
- Convection: in a water bath at 150 °C for 35–40 min.
- It's done when the edges are set and the centre wobbles slightly like jelly.
- Blast chill, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Serving
Serve in the cup with a little extra caramel. You can also turn them out onto a plate for a classic purin shape: run a knife around the edge first. Keep chilled on the buffet.
Storage: 3 days in the fridge, covered.
Variations
- Classic purin: leave out the hojicha and add 2 vanilla pods or 15 g vanilla paste.
- Matcha purin: 30 g matcha whisked into a little of the warm milk first.
- Kuromitsu purin: use kuromitsu instead of caramel on top when serving.