This South African baked mashed Potato Pudding features vanilla custard and creamy, sweetened mashed potatoes, baked in the oven, and set overnight, for a firm, baked cheesecake-like textured pudding that everyone will love!
This baked potato dessert is my all-time favorite homemade dessert! It’s so rich and decadent, and comforting in cold weather.
Admittedly not the easiest dessert to whip up, though it may well be the best mashed potato dessert you’ll ever make.
The only downside of making this pudding recipe that I can think of is that it needs to set overnight as the batter is a smooth liquid, and even once baked, it remains quite jiggly.
Table of Contents
Mashed Potato Pudding Ingredients
Potatoes: I recommend using your favorite type of potato for making regular mashed potatoes. And here it doesn’t matter whether you overcook them, because they’ll be processed even further in the blender later on.
Sugar: This baked pudding recipe contains a lot of sugar, so you may want to adjust according to your taste, or conscience! I haven’t attempted to make this recipe with a sugar substitute, so I cannot vouch for the outcome.
Butter: The butter allows for a light, golden crust to form on the top, and around the edges of this pudding.
Oil: The addition of oil helps keep the center of the potato pudding moist, with the end product being firm yet tender.
Milk: The milk combined with eggs creates a custard base that ultimately results in a stable mashed potato pudding.
Custard powder: I highly recommend using custard powder in this recipe to get an authentic potato pudding. If custard powder is hard to come by, you could experiment with cornflour, but I suspect your pudding will look slightly paler than mine.
Eggs: 10 eggs sound excessive in this recipe, but if you consider that you have 4.5 pounds of mashed potatoes to stabilize, then it makes more sense.
Vanilla extract: Most sweet, baked goods wouldn’t be complete without vanilla extract. In this recipe, it adds to the faint vanilla flavor of the custard powder.
Almond extract: If you’re not a fan of marzipan flavor, you probably don’t enjoy the taste of almond extract or essence in your baking. You can totally skip it if you want, but you won’t get to experience the authentic traditional flavors of this pudding.
How to make Baked Mashed Potato Pudding
Step 1: Prepare Mashed Potatoes
Boil and mash potatoes, and mix together with butter, sugar, and oil.
Step 2: Make Custard
In a separate large bowl, whisk 10 eggs.
Prepare the custard paste.
Add the custard, more milk, and both the vanilla and almond extracts to the beaten eggs.
Step 3: Combine Mash and Custard
Pour the egg custard mixture into the mashed potato mixture and stir well.
For a smoother texture, blend the mixture in batches, and pour into the greased oven dish.
Step 4: Bake and Set
Bake for 1 hr 15 mins, and leave overnight to fully set.
Recipe Tips
I suggest you try this mashed potato pudding recipe a couple of times before making it for a special occasion, to get it just right when it really counts.
To avoid spilling the potato mixture when filling the greased oven dish, start by pouring out half of the mixture first, then place the dish in the center of the oven, on the middle shelf, and then add the remaining batter.
You’d be surprised to find this amount of batter will fill the pan to the brim, and that’s okay.
This potato pudding doesn’t rise, so it won’t spill over in the oven.
Be sure to let the pudding cool down for a minimum of 6 hours, or overnight, and cut into squares when you’re ready to serve.
Storing Baked Potato Pudding
It’s vital that you allow the potato pudding to cool completely before covering it with plastic wrap and storing it in the fridge overnight.
Before serving, remove the pudding from the fridge and let it come up to room temperature.
I do like to heat my portion in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds before adding a topping of stewed dried fruit for extra indulgence.
Love warm desserts for a comfort food treat on cold days? You’ll want to try our Malva Pudding recipe.
This rich baked potato dessert will have your guests and family guessing at the ingredients, and it’s sure to be a hit in your home. Let me know if you give it a try!
The Best Potato Pudding
Ingredients
- 4½ lb mashed potatoes
- ½ lb butter
- 1½ lb sugar
- ½ cup oil
- 10 eggs
- 5 tbsp custard powder
- 4 cups milk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp almond extract optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, 160°C-170°C, or gas mark 3–4.
- In a large pot over medium heat, boil potatoes until tender, drain well and mash until creamy.
- In a mixing bowl, add the mashed potatoes, butter, sugar, and oil and blend well with a whisk or hand mixer.
- In a separate bowl, whisk eggs.
- In a small bowl or mug, mix the custard powder with 1 cup of milk, and add to the whisked eggs.
- Add the remaining 3 cups of milk to the egg mixture and stir well.
- Combine the egg mixture with the mashed potato mixture, and stir well.
- Pour half of the batter into a well greased 11″ x 15″ (30 x 40cm, or similar) oven roasting pan.
- Put the half-filled dish into the oven, in the center of the middle rack, and add the remaining batter.
- Bake at 350°F, 160°C-170°C, or gas mark 3–4, for 1 hour.
- Cover the pudding with foil, and bake for a further 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let pudding cool and set at room temperature for a minimum of 6 hours, or overnight.
- Serve warm or cold, with mixed berry compote, or stewed dried fruit.
