Caramel Apples with Semolina Pudding

Caramel apples with semolina pudding. Yummy!! And just like that, I am transported back to my youth in France.

Who has not enjoyed semolina pudding while growing up? That rich, thick with just the right amount of sweetness, yummy bowl of goodness after a long day of school, always has been my favorite.

I remember preparing it on Wednesday afternoons when school was out. Such a perfect treat that did not require too many ingredients and was quickly prepared.

To this day I am still fixing myself a bowl when I have a craving for something sweet.

The perfect dish from child to grandparents, there is something sweet and comforting about this dish that will make you come back for more and more.

The caramelized apples are just the perfect touch with the semolina. Of course, you can use bananas, apples, or peaches if you have those and hand and are a bit ripe.

What is semolina?

A type of flour, semolina is made from durum wheat. Therefore used in making pasta, couscous, and sweet pudding.

Course in texture, pale yellow in color. Durum wheat is the hardest species of wheat, therefore it contains a high amount of protein and gluten.

It has quite a few similarities to cornmeal: nutty, sweet taste, and coarse texture.

TIPS

• When preparing the caramel apples, be very careful so as not to burn yourself.
• Always use great vanilla beans. My favorite is Tahitian vanilla beans
• To remove the vanilla seeds from the pod, with a small sharp knife make an incision in the middle of the vanilla bean. With the back of your knife, spine, press down, and slide the knife the length of the bean while scraping the seeds out.
• Add the Moscato away from the heat source.
• When adding the semolina to the milk sugar, do it slowly and with a streaming movement. This step will prevent any clumps to form during the cooking process.
• Whisk until it is thick. Whisking constantly is the key to success for this dessert. Make sure you get to the borders of your pan as well as the middle.
• Adding butter at the last minute, will intensify the flavor and give it a smooth texture as well.
• Serve hot in a shallow bowl topped with warm caramelized apples

Substitutions

Use in-season fruits so you can enjoy this dessert all year long. Bananas are quite delightful and result in a richer dessert. More as fall-winter comfort dessert.

• Pears are a great substitution for apples
• Peaches and plums for a summer flair.
• Cognac, Calvados can substitute the Moscato.

More delicious recipes to try:

Apple pie

Strawberry Apple Pie

Rice Pudding with Dates

Gnocchi alla Romana

Equipment and ingredients used to prepare this dessert

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Caramel Apples with Semolina Pudding

5 from 11 votes

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Author: Giangi Townsend

Caramel apples with semolina pudding. Yummy!! And just like that, I am transported back to my youth in France.

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Ingredients

For The Semolina

• 3½ cups whole milk 3 1/2 cups whole milk
• ⅓ cup baker's sugar 1/3 cup baker's sugar (ultra fine sugar)
• 1 vanilla bean 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
• ⅓ cup semolina 1/3 cup semolina
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For The Caramel Apples

• 3 fuji apples 3 fuji or gala apples, peeled, cored and quartered
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup powder sugar 1 cup powder sugar
• ½ cup Moscato dessert wine 1/2 cup Moscato dessert wine
• ½ lemon juice juice of a 1/2 lemom

Instructions

For the Caramel Apples

• Melt, in a large frying pan over medium heat, the butter. Add the apples and powder sugar. Cook while tossing occasionally, until the apples are tender, and the sugar has caramelized to a beautiful light golden brown color. Add the Moscato wine and stir. Set aside. 

For The Semolina

• When the apples are almost cooked, in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add the milk, sugar, vanilla seeds, and the pod. Once the sugar has dissolved, bring it to a simmer and add the semolina to the milk in a steady stream while whisking continuously. Remove the vanilla pods and discard them. Continue whisking until the semolina is thick and smooth, around 5-8 minutes.

  Remove from heat, whisk in the butter. Serve the pudding hot topped with caramelized pears and syrup.

Nutrition

Calories: 583kcal | Carbohydrates: 90g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 98mg | Potassium: 481mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 73g | Vitamin A: 770IU | Vitamin C: 7.8mg | Calcium: 249mg | Iron: 0.9mg

Giangi's Kitchen provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as a registered dietician does not calculate them.

• Course: Desserts
• Cuisine: French

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Originally published April 7, 2020, updated December 9, 2021

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