Súrmjólkurbúðingur

Sour milk pudding

Today I have a recipe for sour milk pudding for you - in the past this dish (sometimes also known as Áfabúðingur) was actually a very popular Christmas dessert in Iceland.

The dessert was usually served with jam, fresh fruit or raisins and chopped almonds .

It is a traditional Icelandic dish - online you can find a recipe for sour milk pudding in an Icelandic weekly magazine from December 1939, in an article about milk and milk dishes by Helga Sigurðadóttir (1904 - 1962).

Helga, along with her aunt Jónína Sigurðardóttir (1879-1962), was actually the most famous Icelandic cook, cooking teacher, and cookbook author. Both revolutionized Icelandic cuisine in their own way, encouraging Icelandic housewives to grow their own fruit and vegetables and use them more frequently in the kitchen.

Helga was also the first director of Húsmæðrakenneraskóli Íslands, the Icelandic Teacher Training Institute for Housewives, founded in 1942. From 1930 onward, she published numerous Icelandic cookbooks, including "Matur og drykkur" in 1946. For decades, the book became the "matarbiblía okkar Íslendinga", the Icelanders' cooking bible and the most important reference work for recipes and home economics.

By the way, the cookbook was reissued in its original form in the summer of 2009 - I have a copy of it at home, too!

Ingredients for 4 servings

500 ml sour milk

80 g sugar

1 pinch of vanilla / vanilla sugar

3 - 4 Tbsp cold water

7 sheets of gelatin

150 ml whipped cream

2 - 3 Tbsp jam

2 Tbsp chopped almonds

Preparation

Soak the gelatin in cold water for about 10 minutes.

Then squeeze the gelatin leaves well...

.... and heat gently in a water bath or in the microwave.

In a bowl, mix the sour milk with the sugar and the ground vanilla or vanilla sugar.

Add the sour milk mixture to the warm gelatin spoon by spoon, stirring thoroughly.

Finally, whip the cream until stiff...

... and fold into the sour milk mixture.

Pour the sour milk pudding into the dessert glasses and let it set in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours.

Then heat the jam until it melts, then decorate the pudding with the still-liquid jam, the chopped almonds, and, if desired, some fresh fruit.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]