Coconut and Apricot Sago Pudding

Sago and tapioca pudding used to be two of my horror desserts at school time lunches, we all used to call it frogs eggs but thought frogs eggs might have tasted better! I used to enjoy school meals unless of course it was something I didn’t like and in those days you were made to eat everything on your plate otherwise it would be off to the head mistress for a telling off and we were to scared to of that.

I had not touched sago since I was about 8 years old until a Chinese friend invited me over to their house for dinner while I was in Sydney. She cooked a great banquet of dishes but she knew I was a big dessert fan and said she had also made a special traditional dessert for me. When she brought out the chilled sago and mango pudding I think I broke out in a cold sweat, frogs eggs, how was I going to digest this? But I didn’t want to be impolite and bravely put a spoon in my mouth and was dearly glad I did, it wasn’t like the sago I remembered, this was silky with a creamy coconut and the tart fruit complimented it well. This is my version with apricot puree which are in season here in New Zealand. I have only passed the apricots through a sieve since they are so sweet and don’t really need much adding to them.

Ingredients

½ cup sago
1 cup coconut cream
1½ ? 2 cups water
1 tbsp sugar
6-8 ripe apricots

Method

Half and de-stone the apricots.
Press the apricots through a sift and collect the puree in a bowl. Depending on how sweet your apricots are you may not need to add anything to them. If you prefer you can add a teaspoon of sugar or honey to the puree but I prefer the combination of a tart fruit against the sweet coconut sago.
Put the sugar, coconut cream and 1½ cups of water into a saucepan and place over a gentle heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and then add the sago, stirring with a wooden spoon as you add it.
Don?t allow the mixture to boil as that will cause the coconut cream to split.
Keep stirring to ensure the sago doesn?t form clumps. The sago will swell and the mixture will become quite sticky. If it becomes too thick, just add a little more water.
The sago is cooked when it becomes translucent.
Pour the pudding into moulds or glasses and set in the fridge for a few hours.
Turn mould out onto the apricot puree base or if using glasses pour the fruit puree ontop on the pudding
Serve chilled