How To Make "Purin" (Japanese Custard Pudding) At Home
“Purin” is what we call our caramel custard pudding in Japan. It is a popular Japanese custard dessert, loved by all generations.
It is topped with a bittersweet caramel sauce, and the texture of the pudding itself is silky smooth. The combination of the caramel sauce and the silky pudding tastes deliciously rich.
We use only simple ingredients to make Custard pudding. There are no special ingredients that you must run to an Asian supermarket to get. Milk, Eggs, and sugar are the main ingredients you’ll need to make Japanese custard pudding.
Pudding is actually originally an English dessert. It is said that a man from England introduced various Western foods and desserts to Yokohama around the 1860s, and pudding was one of them. It is also believed that custard pudding became popular among Japanese families around the 1960s. This is due to the fact that during this time, a Japanese food company called House Foods started selling “pudding mix”. From then on, custard pudding became one of the popular desserts to make in Japanese homes.
Custard pudding has become such a popular dessert in Japan that you can now find it in virtually any supermarket or convenience store. However, nothing beats custard pudding made at home. That’s why we recommend you try making it at home because it is so simple and easy!
When it comes to making pudding at home, there are two well-known methods. One method is steaming the pudding while the other method is baking the pudding. In our recipe, we will be baking the pudding in the oven because we believe that the pudding achieves a better texture when baked.
We are also adding an extra egg yolk and real vanilla beans to make the taste of the custard pudding even richer.
Enjoy making and eating this Japanese custard pudding at any time of the year! We’re sure your family and friends will love it too.
Overview
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 60 mins
Total time: 1hr 20mins
Total servings: 4
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- 220ml Whole Milk
- 2 Eggs + 1 Egg Yolk
- 30g Granulated Sugar
- 1 Vanilla Bean or 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
- 30g Granulated Sugar (for making the caramel sauce)
- 30ml Water (for making the caramel sauce)
Expert's Tip
A Milk Pan is useful for both cooking and baking. This milk pan is designed to pour liquid into a separate vessel easier. It has a unique shape with spouts on both sides of the pan. The handle is also designed to be gripped easier so that it fits nicely in your hands.
Instructions
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1) Gathering the Ingredients
Gather all of the ingredients together.
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2) Preparing Ramekins and Hot Water
Grease your ramekins with butter, paying attention to completely grease the sides of the molds so that the pudding will come out easily in the end.
Prepare hot water for the Bain-Marie. (The method we will use to bake the pudding.)
Preheat the oven to 150℃ (302℉).
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3) Making the Caramel Sauce
Add sugar and half of the water (about 15g) into a small saucepan. Stir them together over medium heat by turning the pot and reduce the heat to low when the sugar is dissolved.
Tip: It is important not to use a spatula to stir the ingredients. Just stir the pot by turning it from side to side.
Once the sugar starts changing color, watch it carefully and wait until it reaches your preferred caramel color (The darker the color, the more bitter the taste).
When the caramel reaches your preferred color, add the rest of the water into the pot. Be careful, the caramel will be very hot, and it might splash. Combine the caramel and water.
Finally, pour the sauce into the molds and rest them in the refrigerator while you prepare the pudding.
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4) Making Vanilla Milk
Pour milk and add vanilla into another pot. Heat the milk at medium heat and stir with a spatula until it becomes a bit warmer than body temperature, about 60℃ (140℉).
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5) Combining the Eggs and Milk Mixtures
Add the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a whisk until just well-combined. Add the sugar, then mix everything to combine. Pour milk into the egg mixture and mix well with a spatula.
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6) Straining the Mixture
Set a strainer over the pot (it is fine to use the pot that you used for heating the milk). Strain the mixture to remove any potential lumps.
Tip: Don’t skip this step! This step is what will ensure that you end up with a silky smooth pudding.
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7) Baking the Pudding
Divide the custard mixture evenly into the molds. Place the molds in an oven-safe container, then add in about 2cm (0.8inch) of hot water to the container. Bake at 150℃ (302℉) for 35-40 minutes.
When the surface of the pudding is firm, then it is done cooking.
Take it out from the water bath. Once it is cooled enough to touch, cover the top and leave it for 1-2 hours to cool down.
Tip: When they come out of the oven, they will be very hot, so please use tongs to remove the pudding molds from the container.
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8) Serving the Pudding
Gently remove the custard pudding from the mold by pushing it down around the edge of the mold with a spoon.
Place a plate face down on top of the mold. Then flip the plate and gently remove the mold.
You can enjoy this pudding for 3-4 days by storing it in the refrigerator.
About the author
Ayako Kidokoro
Ayako is a recipe writer based in Frankfurt, Germany. Though she is originally from Japan, she has lived across five countries both in America and Europe. She loves writing dessert-related recipes and sharing them with Japanese Taste readers, but she also loves educating people about Japanese tradition, culture, and language. She loves exploring and making new recipes from scratch, but other than food, she also loves doing yoga to help her stay in shape and relax.
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