Kazandibi is one of the traditional milk desserts dating back to the Ottoman palace kitchens. This dessert is a simple and modified version of the chicken dessert pudding – tavuk göğsü tatlısı. It is sold in almost all the patisseries in Turkey. The above picture is from Saray Muhallebicisi (The Palace Pudding Shop).
Kazandibi means the bottom of the pot. The dish was invented by the palace cooks to add variety. They use to cook with hand made copper pots – called kazan – in those days. The burnt bottom gives a burnt and caramelized flavor to this light pudding.
The dish/tray that you will be using to prepare the caramel should be heat resistant. You will need to grease this dish/tray all around, including the corners. The best choice is to use unsalted butter. You can use caster sugar or granulated sugar for the caramel. You should continuously move the dish/tray around to have the caramelization equal all around. Be careful not to over cook and remove from heat immediately, do not burn completely, a touch of brown will be enough. Using a pyrex will be useful to check the bottom easily. Put the dish/tray in an another tray full of water or wet some kitchen towels and place it on top. After the dish cools enough, move it to the fridge, keep it there for couple of hours. Only then cut to pieces and roll and serve.
The recipe below also contains mastic, you can leave it out if you cannot find it, it is added for additional flavor. Mastic is often used in icecream, cookies, coffee, and puddings in the Turkish cuisine. Mastic is from mastic trees that grow in the Aegean region. Mastic has been used as a medicine since Medieval ages as it is a perfect antiseptic.
Might seem tricky, but you can master how to prepare this antique dessert quickly. I am sure you will make a great impression.
Burned Bottom Milk Pudding / Kazandibi
Ingredients
- 1 litre milk
- 65 grams rice flour
- 55 grams corn starch
- 220 grams sugar
- 5 drops vanilla
- 3 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter to grease
- 3 grains mastic optional
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon to garnish
Instructions
- Crush the mastic with a bit of sugar in a mortar and pestle until finely ground.
- Combine the starch and the flour in a pot. Add about a glass of the milk and mix well until dissolved. Make sure no lumps remain.
- Add the remaining milk, ground mastic and the sugar to the pot, again mix well.
- Start cooking over small-medium heat, while continuously mixing. When you start obtaining a pudding like texture and bubbles start coming up, close the heat. Add the vanilla.
- If possible, pour the mixture into a mixer and constantly mix the mixture at lowest possible speed, until you need to use the pudding. If not set aside with lid covered and mix once in a while.
- Grease your pan/Pyrex dish with butter.
- Sprinkle with powder sugar all around evenly. Add on top about a cup of the pudding mixture. Start caramelizing over medium heat on the stove. Moving your pan/dish around will help this happen evenly . The bottom will soon caramelize and turn brownish, be patient. When you decide it is browned enough remove from the stove.
- Slowly pour the remaining pudding on top do not damage the burned bottom. Let cool for about five minutes then prepare another tray with water and place the pan/dish into it so that serving will be easier. Keep the pudding tray in the water tray for about 10 minutes then fridge it until serving.
- To serve, use a knife to cut the pudding to rectangulars. Use a spatula to take each piece out. You can either serve up-side down or make it round again with the burnt side up.
- Sprinkle some cinnamon. Enjoy.