Orange-Spiced CPO Farro Pudding

I really like using Cayuga Pure Organics farro in savory dishes, but it's also nice to see this whole grain make an appearance in a dessert.  I like the challenge of incorporating the grain in it's whole form, rather than using the flour from the whole grain.  I started looking at rice pudding recipes and decided that farro pudding would be a great locally sourced dessert.  Finally I came up with my version of farro pudding, this one is appropriately spiced for the holiday season!

Orange-Spiced Farro Pudding w/ Caramelized Apples By Hans Butler

Ingredients 1 cup farro – soaked for 1 hour 1 orange - zested and juiced 1 pinch of salt ½ inch knob of ginger – peeled and grated ½ tsp ground clove ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground allspice 2 cups water 2 cups heavy cream ½ cup maple syrup 2 egg yolks - whisked 3 Tbsp Butter 2 cups apples – ¼ inch dice 1 pinch of salt freshly grated nutmeg 3 Tbsp Honey 2 Tbsp Cider

Directions 1)      Drain farro and put in a heavy bottomed sauce pot 2)      Add orange zest, orange juice, salt, ginger, clove, cinnamon, allspice, and water 3)      Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer until most of  the water has evaporated 4)      Whisk together heavy cream and maple syrup, add this mixture to the farro 5)      Simmer for about 20 minutes until the cream starts to reduce and the pudding starts to get very thick 6)      At this point whisk about ½ a cup of the hot liquid in the bowl with the egg yolks, this is called tempering, then add the warmed up egg yolks to the pudding mixture while whisking continuously 7)      Heat this mixture, stirring every few seconds, for about another 5-10 minutes – the mixture should be barely simmering during this time 8)      Cool to room temperature and then chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours (or serve warm) 9)      While mixture is cooling, heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat 10)  Add butter, when the butter has melted and is sizzling add the diced apples and a pinch of salt and a bit of freshly grated nutmeg, quickly toss them around in the pan to coat with butter 11)  Add the honey toss the apples in this mixture until the honey is full melted and bubbly (only takes about 5-10 seconds) 12)  Remove apples with a slotted spoon and place them in a clean bowl, add the cider to the mixture remaining in the pan and cook until golden brown and syrupy 13)  Add this mixture to the apples and toss to coat, this is basically caramelized apples 14)  Serve the desired amount of pudding in a dish and garnish with some caramelized apples Yields 3-4 cups