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Lighter Buttermilk Sago-Style Pudding with Warm Spiced Fruit
Recipe

Lighter Buttermilk Sago-Style Pudding with Warm Spiced Fruit

Dessert • South Africa

A creamy buttermilk sago-style pudding sweetened gently and topped with warm cinnamon fruit for a satisfying, everyday dessert.

Why smarter

Uses less added sugar, keeps the creamy feel with buttermilk and a little low-fat milk, and boosts volume and sweetness naturally with fruit.

Chef tip

If you want an extra-smooth texture, stir the cooked sago through the buttermilk mixture while the sago is warm (not boiling) to prevent curdling.

Soft line

Comforting, creamy, and fruit-forward—without being overly sweet.

Ingredients

# Ingredient Text Amount Unit Ingredient Name Notes
1 Sago (tapioca pearls) 80.000 g sago
2 Water 750.000 ml water for cooking sago
3 Low-fat milk 250.000 ml low-fat milk about 1%–2%
4 Buttermilk 500.000 ml buttermilk
5 Egg 1.000 large egg
6 Sugar 35.000 g sugar reduce to taste
7 Vanilla essence 5.000 ml vanilla essence
8 Pinch of salt 1.000 pinch salt
9 Canned peaches in juice, drained and sliced 410.000 g canned peaches in juice or use fresh/seasonal fruit
10 Raisins 30.000 g raisins optional but classic
11 Cinnamon 2.500 ml ground cinnamon about 1/2 tsp
12 Lemon juice 10.000 ml lemon juice about 2 tsp

Method

  1. Rinse the sago in a sieve. Add to a medium pot with the water and bring to a gentle simmer.
  2. Simmer 15–20 minutes, stirring often, until the pearls look mostly translucent. Add a splash more water if it gets too thick. Drain well.
  3. In the same pot, warm the low-fat milk with the sugar and salt until steaming (don’t boil).
  4. Whisk the egg in a bowl. Slowly whisk in a ladle of the warm milk to temper, then pour the egg mixture back into the pot, whisking.
  5. Cook on low heat 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly thickened (like a thin custard). Remove from heat.
  6. Stir in the drained sago and vanilla. Let stand 5 minutes to cool slightly, then whisk in the buttermilk until smooth.
  7. Spoon into 4 serving bowls. Chill for at least 1 hour (or overnight) to set to a spoonable pudding texture.
  8. For the fruit: warm the peaches and raisins with cinnamon and lemon juice in a small pot for 3–5 minutes until saucy (or microwave in a bowl).
  9. Serve the chilled pudding topped with warm spiced fruit.