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    Home » Recipes » Desserts and Sweets

    Easy Serradura (Sawdust Pudding)

    Published: Aug 6, 2020 · Modified: May 7, 2021 by Alonna

    Serradura is everything you want in a pudding, rich and creamy, with layers of cakey crumbs. It is a sweet and easy make-ahead ending to any meal.
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Layered puddings served with whole Marie biscuits and a small bouquet of mint.
    Easy Serradura (Sawdust Pudding) Layered puddings served with whole Marie biscuits and a small bouquet of mint.
    Serradura is everything you want in a pudding, rich and creamy, with layers of cakey crumbs. It is a sweet and easy make-ahead ending to any meal.

    Thanks to the Portuguese

    Brought to India, and Goa specifically, serradura or sawdust pudding was introduced by the Portuguese, who made this simple dessert popular wherever they landed. Serradura is the word for sawdust in Portuguese; thus, this dessert is often called sawdust pudding. Made with three essential ingredients, and four if you want to add vanilla, this easy, make-ahead dessert is perfect for those with a sweet tooth. The three elements are plain, not too sweet cookies or biscuits (depending on where you are from), sweetened condensed milk, and cream.

    At my local Indian grocery, I found the Britannia brand Marie biscuits made in India. More familiar to the Portuguese is the Cuétara Bolacha Maria biscuits. There are many brands of this cookie, alternatively called Marie or Maria, and they available in some 40 countries around the world. Any tea or digestive biscuit that isn’t too sweet and rich will work. I haven’t tried it, but I am pretty sure graham crackers or vanilla wafers would be yummy too.

    Besides its simplicity, sawdust pudding is a no-bake, no-cook recipe that is the perfect ending to a summer meal when you don’t want to heat the kitchen. Layer it in little jars or small glasses, or even wine glasses would be pretty. Two tips: make sure the cookie crumb layer isn’t thicker than 1/4 of an inch, or your dessert will be dry. And it is a rich dessert so, if using individual jars or glasses, make sure they aren’t too big. You can also make a bigger dessert. This recipe serves four, so you could use a serving dish that holds 4 cups.

    Allow for chilling time

    Control the sweetness of this dessert by the amount of sweetened condensed milk you use. I prefer my puddings to be not too sweet, so I add just a 1/4 of a cup. If you want a sweeter version, add up to 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk. Use a piping bag or a plastic bag with one corner cut off to help layer the cream. And while assembling the pudding shoot for 5 to 7 layers beginning and ending with the cream layer. Refrigerate for 4 hours up to two days. Remove from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.

    This dessert has been a fair game for all sorts of customization. Especially popular flavorings are green tea, chocolate, strawberry, coffee, and Oreos. Nuts are often added to the cookie base, cashews being the most frequent favorite. Happily, this is another one of those recipes that call for your creativity, or not, depending on your mood. Serradura is much more than the sum of its few parts, rich and creamy, with a cake layer from the softened biscuits. I hope you will give it a go!

    Happy cooking!

    ~ Alonna

    P.S. If you like cream make-ahead desserts, try my chai pudding.

    See the Notes below before you cook.

    • Light & Airy Mango Mousse
    • 6-Ingredient Indian Mango Custard
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    • Indian Rice Pudding (Kerala Payasam)
    Layered puddings served with whole Marie biscuits and a small bouquet of mint.

    Easy Serradura (Sawdust Pudding)

    Serradura is everything you want in a pudding, rich and creamy, with layers of cakey crumbs. It is a sweet and easy make-ahead ending to any meal.
    Print Pin Comment
    Course: Dessert
    Cuisine: Indian
    Prep Time: 20 minutes
    Cook Time: 0 minutes
    Chilling time: 3 hours
    Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
    Servings: 4 to 6
    Calories: 403kcal
    Author: Alonna

    Ingrediants

    Pudding

    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk ~ Add more if you want a sweeter dessert
    • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
    • 16 Marie biscuits ~ See notes below for substitutes

    Garnishing Ideas

    • ground cinnamon ~ For sprinkling over the top
    • sliced almonds ~ Toasted
    • coconut ~ Toasted
    • passion fruit pulp
    • 1/2 cup jam ~ Layered over the pudding
    • chocolate shavings
    • crushed cookies
    • sliced strawberries
    • mint
    US Customary - Metric
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    Instructions

    Pudding

    • Gather your ingredients.
      Ingredients gathered.
    • In a food processor, grind the cookies into fine crumbs.
      The biscuit crumbs processed and ready for layering.
    • Using a hand or stand mixer, whip the cream to medium-stiff peaks. Add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Whip together for 2 to 3 minutes.
      Whipped cream and ready for layering.
    • You can spoon the whipped cream into your serving glasses or jar. Or use an icing bag or ziplock bag to pipe the cream in layers.
    • Beginning and ending with a cream layer, create 7 layers, alternating whipped cream and the biscuit crumbs.
      Layered puddings served with whole Marie biscuits and a small bouquet of mint.
    • Garnish as you wish and place in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours up to 2 days.

    Notes

    • Any tea or digestive biscuit that isn’t too sweet and rich will work.
    • If you need a gluten-free dessert, use gluten-free biscuits or cookies.
    • Instead of using all biscuit crumbs, you can replace 4 of the biscuits with 1/2 cup toasted cashews. Add to the biscuits when processing to crumbs.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 403kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 88mg | Sodium: 80mg | Potassium: 148mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 926IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 1mg

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    Alonna Smith owner of My Indian Stove dot com
    Alonna Smith, Publisher (and chef!)

    As an adventurous and accomplished home cook, I am having the time of my life, cooking through the many regions of India, learning different cooking methods, and the many ways of using spices, pulses, and creating unforgettable food, if I may say so myself.

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