AI-generated image
Mämmi
Rye and malt Easter pudding
Mämmi: Finland's dark baked Easter pudding of rye and malt
Mämmi is Finland's Easter dessert, a dark, almost black pudding of rye flour and malted rye, sweetened slowly by the malt's own enzymes and by a little molasses, then baked for hours in birch-bark boxes or small dishes. It looks unusual but tastes mild, malty and gently sweet, and is eaten cold with cream and sugar on Easter Sunday. It is vegan, and it was once eaten through Lent. You need powdered rye malt from a baking supplier or Nordic shop. Chef's tip: keep the porridge warm (around 60 °C) for two hours before baking so the malt can sweeten it; skip this and mämmi tastes bitter.
- Total time
- 330 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
- 4 ¼ cups water
- 4 oz powdered rye malt
- 7 oz rye flour
- 2 ⅛ oz dark molasses or treacle
- 1 orangezest only
- ½ tsp salt
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (1)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Heat 4 ¼ cups water to 140°F. Whisk in 4 oz powdered rye malt and half of 3 ½ oz rye flour to a thin, smooth porridge.
5 minStep 2: Keep it at 55–149°F for 2 hours, stirring now and then: set the pan in a larger pan of hot water, or in an oven heated to 140°F. It will taste noticeably sweet by the end.
120 minStep 3: Bring to the boil, stirring, then whisk in the rest of 3 ½ oz rye flour a little at a time and simmer for 10 minutes, until thick.
10 minStep 4: Stir in 2 ⅛ oz dark molasses or treacle, 1 orange and ½ tsp salt. Beat for a few minutes to make it smooth and lighter.
Step 5: Pour into 2 small greased baking dishes, about 4 cm deep. Bake at 300°F (275°F fan) for 3 hours, until a dark crust forms on top. A common mistake is a hot oven, which makes it boil over and burn.
180 minStep 6: Cool, then chill for at least 3 days to mellow. Serve cold with cream (or plant cream) and sugar.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 42 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does mämmi take?
- About 330 minutes in total: 30 minutes to prepare and 300 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 8 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of orange?
- Mandarins or clementines, same weight.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Kartoshka cakeCocoa and cake crumb truffles
Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.
Russian
Undu walaluFried urad dal rings in treacle
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
Apple & pear puree
A smooth, naturally sweet puree of gently stewed apple and pear, one of the first foods for babies of 4–8 months. The fruit cooks in a little unsweetened apple juice, so nothing else is needed. Serve it lukewarm; any leftover keeps covered in the fridge for a day, or freezes well in small pots.
Perfect for:Easter