Who has not enjoyed semolina pudding while growing up? That rich, thick with just the right amount of sweetness, yummy bowl of goodness.

Rich, creamy semolina with caramelized apples. Always perfect after a long day of work or school. It has always been my favorite.

caramel apples with semolina pudding

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

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

To this day, I am still fixing myself a bowl when I crave something sweet.

The perfect dish for children and grandparents, something sweet and comforting about this dish 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.

In this Article

caramel apples with semolina pudding

What is semolina?

A type of flour, semolina, is made from durum wheat. Therefore, it is 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.

Here are a few helpful tips for the ingredients needed to make this apple caramel with semolina pudding recipe

Whole milk – you need the richness of the milk for this dessert.

Baker’s sugar – ultra-fine sugar

Vanilla bean – all those beautiful seeds infuse the milk with flavor.

Semolina – the star of this dessert. Make sure that you have a fresh bag at home

Unsalted butter – I always use unsalted butter in my cooking or baking to control the amount of sodium. Salted butter not only adds too much salt to your dish, but it changes the flavor.

Fiji apples – they maintain their shape best when cooking with them and are naturally sweet.

Powder sugar – melts faster and gives that beautiful golden color to your caramel.

Moscato dessert wine – adds a deeper layer to the caramel and works beautifully with the apples.

Lemon juice – to add a layer of acidity to your dessert

Caramel apples with semolina pudding

Equipment needed

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Large frying pan – large enough to hold your apples

Saucepan – to create your caramel. Ensure it is deep and the bottom is heavy for better heat distribution.

Whisk – to prepare your semolina

Serving dishes – always fun to use a new dish in the kitchen

Cooking tips and step-by-step on how to make these fantastic caramel apples with semolina

As with all my cooking, I always suggest having all your ingredients ready before starting to cook.

With this recipe the caramel will turn golden rather quickly, thus you want to be prepared for all your steps ahead of time.

  • When preparing the caramel apples, be careful not to burn yourself.
  • Always use great vanilla beans. My favorite is Tahitian vanilla beans
  • To remove the vanilla seeds from the pod, make an incision in the middle of the vanilla bean with a small sharp knife. 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 from forming during the cooking process.
  • Whisk until it is thick. Whisking constantly is the key to success for this dessert. Ensure you get to the borders of your pan and 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
caramel apples with semolina pudding

Substitutions

Use in-season fruits so you can enjoy this dessert all year long. Bananas are quite delightful and result in a more decadent dessert.

It’s more as a fall-winter comfort dessert.

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

If you enjoyed this caramel apple recipe, look at some of my other recipes!

Apple pie

Strawberry Apple Pie

Rice Pudding with Dates

Gnocchi alla Romana

8 Top Fall Desserts For You To Enjoy!

caramel apples with semolina pudding

Equipment and ingredients used to prepare this dessert

Caramel Apples with Semolina Pudding

5 from 11 votes
caramel apples with semolina pudding
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Author: Giangi Townsend
Rich creamy semolina with caramelized apples. Always perfect after a long day of work or school.
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Ingredients 

For The Semolina

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

For The Caramel Apples

  • 3 fuji apples, peeled, cored and quartered
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup powder sugar
  • ½ cup Moscato dessert wine
  • ½ lemon juice

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, and 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.

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