Turkish Almond Pudding Recipe: Keşkül

Keşkül is a Turkish almond milk pudding. You grind blanched almonds into the milk, thicken it with cornstarch and an egg yolk, chill it, and finish with ground pistachios on top.

Keşkül sits in the same family as sütlaç and the wider world of Turkish desserts, but the ground almonds set it apart. For more recipes to cook at home, see the Turkish recipes hub.

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups blanched almonds
• 5 ½ cups whole milk, divided
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 egg yolk, beaten
• Pinch of salt
• Ground pistachio nuts

Method

1. Place the almonds in a blender along with 1 ½ cups of the milk. Grind them well for about 4 minutes to make a smooth paste. Turn out this mixture into a medium-size saucepan and add 3 ½ cups milk, the sugar, and the cream. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining ½ cup milk to form a smooth paste. Gradually add this mixture to the boiling milk mixture, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring frequently. Carefully add about 1 cup of the hot almond milk to the beaten egg yolk, then pour this mixture back into the saucepan. Add a pinch of salt. Simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens.
3. Pour the mixture into individual serving dishes. Let it cool, then refrigerate for several hours to chill the pudding. Sprinkle ground pistachio nuts on top and serve.

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