Yakult Pudding is inpired by the flavor from my childhood. Each spoonful encapsulates the sweetness and tanginess of Yakult. With the smooth custard base and airy chiffon cake, this pudding is a simple yet comforting summer dessert.
You might also like Milk Tea Tres Leches or Miso Cheesecake.
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What is Yakult?
Yakult is a popular probiotic drink that originated in Japan. It is made through a fermentation process, where milk is combined with a special strain of bacteria and then fermented. This process results in a yogurt-like drink with a distinctive sweet and tangy flavor. Each bottle of Yakult contains live probiotic bacteria, specifically a strain called Lactobacillus casei Shirota. Many people enjoy Yakult for its taste as well as its potential health benefits of promoting gut health and digestion.
What is Pudding?
In the Hojicha Purin recipe, I talked about the misunderstanding of pudding and purin. When the first time my boss asked me to make banana pudding, I immediately thought about the Japanese baked custard, Purin, but what he actually wanted was this smooth custard layered with banana and whipped cream. American pudding should be soft, creamy and spoonable custard that is usually thickened with cornstarch, flour, egg yolks, or gelatin.
Ingredients of Yakult Pudding
- Yakult - Yakult bottles are usually small and compact, only 80ml per bottle, and it’s sold in 5 bottles per row. I got them from Asian grocery store.
- Water - I use water instead of milk to dilute the liquid for custard, so the pudding won’t be too sweet.
- Corn Starch - Corn starch is the thickening agent here.
- Egg Yolk & Egg White - Egg yolk is used in the custard to thicken the liquid and create the creamy, custard-like consistency. In the chiffon cake, egg white is whipped to incorporate with lots of tiny air pockets, and mix with egg yolk mixture, therefore result in this sponge-like fluffy texture.
- Granulated Sugar - Granulated sugar is fine and easy to melt in egg whites, so chiffon cake recipes usually ask for granulated sugar.
- Oil - Oil adds moisture to the cake, helping it stay soft and tender. And it also coats the air bubbles created from whipping the egg whites, so the cake can rise evenly and develop a fluffy texture.
- Flour - The most ideal flour for chiffon cake is cake flour for its low-gluten content, but cake flour isn’t easy to get here. So I use all purpose flour and corn starch to achieve the similar effect.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Yakult Custard?
Warm up Yakult and water in a saucepan to nearly boil.
Mix egg yolk, sugar and corn starch in a bowl.
Just like making Matcha Pastry Cream. Gradually pour hot Yakult into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. This step is called tempering.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return it to the stove over medium heat.
Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens.
Pour it into a dry bowl and prep the plastic wrap against the surface. Chill the custard completely before using.
How to make Yakult Chiffon Cake?
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a quarter sheet tray with a parchment paper.
Separate the egg white and egg yolk. Whip the egg white to stiff peak.
In a bowl, mix the egg yolk with oil and Yakult.
Sift all purpose flour and corn starch together. Mix the flour and egg yolk mixture with the whisk.
Gently fold in the meringue in three times.
Pour the chiffon cake batter into the prepared sheet tray. Flatten the surface with a offset spatula or bowl scraper.
Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, or until the center bounce back when you gently tap it.
How to assemble Yakult Pudding?
While the cake and the custard are cooling, you can whip some heavy cream with powdered sugar until soft peak.
After the chiffon cake cools down, flip the tray onto a chopping board and remove the parchment paper.
Cut the chiffon cake to little bite-sized cubes.
Start by placing a layer of chiffon cake cubes at the bottom, follow with Yakult custard, whipped cream, and repeat the layering process.
Finish with more chiffon cake cubes and white chocolate peals (optional.) If you are serving right away, you can assemble the pudding in glasses, or you can also make a whole tray of pudding for sharing.
Storage
The finished pudding is good for 3 days. Just like how we store custard, press the plastic wrap against the surface.
Chiffon cake itself is the best to store in freezer for up to 1 month.
Recipe Tips
Add the sugar all in once at the beginning (on condition of using blender). This is my secret to always get the perfect stable meringue. In the process of whipping, there are a few stages.
- Medium beating: Melt the sugar in the egg white first, so you create a much stronger structure to capture all the bubbles.
- High beating: Once the sugar are all melted, turn the blender to high speed to quickly produce the big bubbles. This stage takes the longest time.
- Low beating: Once the meringue is hard enough to draw letters on the surface. Turn the speed to medium and then low. This step is to break the big bubbles that we don’t want in our cake.
This method is hard to do if you’re whipping the meringue by hand, because after mixed with sugar, the egg white’s structure becomes very strong. And it takes longer time to create the foam and bubbles.
Recipe FAQ
No, because Yakult is acid just like many other fermented dairy products. During the fermentation process, Lactobacillus casei Shirota produces lactic acid. Think of it as lemon juice. If you heat up lemon juice and milk together, what could happen? Acid coagulation, curdling.
Just like what I mentioned in Matcha Crème Anglaise. When cooking pastry cream, what we are looking for is the stage called “nappe.” It should coat the spatula, and when you draw your finger across it, there should be a clear line.
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe Card
Yakult Pudding
Equipment
Ingredients
Yakult Cudstard (You can half the following recipe for 4 servings)
- 6 bottle Yakult
- 300 g water
- 6 egg yolk
- 40 g corn starch
- 60 g granulated sugar
Yakult Chiffon Cake (If you decide to half the recipe, bake in a 8" cake pan)
- 4 egg
- 30 g oil
- 1 bottle Yakult
- 60 g all purpose flour
- 10 g corn starch
Whipped Cream (You can half the following recipe for 4 servings)
- 240 g heavy cream
- 20 g powered sugar
Instructions
Make Yakult Custard
- Cook: Warm up Yakult and water in a saucepan to nearly boil.
- Whisk: Mix egg yolk, sugar and corn starch in a bowl.
- Temper: Just like making Matcha Pastry Cream. Gradually pour hot Yakult into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly.
- Cook: Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return it to the stove over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens.
- Chill: Pour it into a dry bowl and prep the plastic wrap against the surface. Chill the custard completely before using.
Make Yakult Chiffon Cake
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare a quarter sheet tray with a parchment paper.
- Whip: Separate the egg white and egg yolk. Whip the egg white to stiff peak.
- Mix: In a bowl, mix the egg yolk with oil and Yakult.
- Mix: Sift all purpose flour and corn starch together. Mix the flour and egg yolk mixture with the whisk.
- Fold: Gently fold in the meringue in three times.
- Mold: Pour the chiffon cake batter into the prepared sheet tray. Flatten the surface with a offset spatula or scraper.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, or until the center bounce back when you gently tap it.
Assemble Yakult Pudding
- Whip: While the cake and the custard are cooling, you can whip some heavy cream with powdered sugar until soft peak.
- Flip: After the chiffon cake cools down, flip the tray onto a chopping board and remove the parchment paper.
- Cut: Cut the chiffon cake to little bite-sized cubes.
- Layer: Start by placing a layer of chiffon cake cubes at the bottom, follow with Yakult custard, whipped cream, and repeat the layering process. Finish with more chiffon cake cubes and white chocolate peals (optional.)
Notes
- Medium beating: Melt the sugar in the egg white first, so you create a much stronger structure to capture all the bubbles.
- High beating: Once the sugar are all melted, turn the blender to high speed to quickly produce the big bubbles. This stage takes the longest time.
- Low beating: Once the meringue is hard enough to draw letters on the surface. Turn the speed to medium and then low. This step is to break the big bubbles that we don’t want in our cake.
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