Delight in the exotic flavors of a delicious coconut tapioca pudding topped with a vibrant tropical fruit compote. This enchanting dessert transports your taste buds to sun-kissed shores with each spoonful, as velvety pudding meets the burst of succulent fruits. Our Corporate Pastry Chef Bruno Zaza is sharing with us all the secrets to this tropical escape.

 

 

Tell us a bit about your career as pastry chef and your role in MSC Cruises.

“I fell in love with the art of pâtisserie as a young teenager in my home town of Grenoble in France and I threw myself wholeheartedly into my apprenticeship at a local pastry shop. After having concluded my culinary school and get my diploma of “Patissier, chocolatier confiseur, glacier” in 1988, I worked in various pastry shops and hotels in my region from 1988 to 1996 to gain personal experience. In 1996 I decided to move from France to start a new experience in the cruise world and joined my first cruise ship in Port Said (Egypt). It was a French cruise company. In 2000 I became Corporate Pastry Chef for a cruise catering company and join MSC Family in May 2005 for the same position. Today, I am creating all menu desserts, developing recipes, coordinating Pastry Chefs on board and choosing all pastry and bakery ingredients for our fleet.”

 

 

This recipe is an explosion of tropical flavors, thanks to coconut milk, tapioca and fresh tropical fruit. Do you have an expert's tip to guarantee the success of this dish?

 

“Tapioca is a starch and during the cooling process of the pudding it can become lightly “gummy”. This is the reason why cold coconut milk is incorporated at the end; not only it enhances the flavor but it also provides a velvety texture. Another important point is to use only ripe fruits for your compote.”

 

 

Is it possible to replace the Tapioca pearls with a different ingredient?

 

“A variation of this dessert can be a “Coconut rice pudding with tropical fruit compote”, but the process is different. Water is replaced with cow milk and the rice is simmered boiling the two different types of milk together. Sugar must be added almost at the end, to ensure that rice properly cooks in the milk.”

 

 

This dessert is surely highly appreciated by our guests! Where is it possible to enjoy it on board our ships?

 

“The tapioca pudding is served on all our fleet during one of the Gala Dinners in a no sugar added version.”

 

 

 

Ingredients for 5 servings

 

 

For the pudding

Tapioca pearls 60 gr

Water 120 gr

Sugar white granulated 75 gr

Coconut milk 210 gr

Table Salt 0.2 gr               

 

 

For the tropical fruit compote

Fresh diced mango 100 gr

Diced pineapple 100 gr

Lime juice 1 gr

Mango pulp 10 gr

 

 

Garnish

Lime Zest 0.5 gr

Fresh diced strawberries 20 gr

Crushed lightly toasted pistachio 5 gr

 

 

Preparation

The first thing to do is to soak the tapioca pearls in cold water for about 1 hour, then strain them and keep the water aside. Boil the tapioca water with sugar, half of the coconut milk and salt and then add the soaked pearls. Cook slowly for about 20 minutes, until the pearls become clear. Remove from the heat and let it cool down. When pudding is still lukewarm, add the remaining cold coconut milk. Your tapioca pudding is ready.

Now mix the diced mango and pineapple and add the lime juice and the mango pulp, to give to your compote a smooth texture.

Top the pudding with a spoon of fruit compote and then add the diced strawberries, the grated lime zest and the chopped toasted pistachios. Serve cold and enjoy!