Greek Grape Pudding (Moustalevria)

Moustalevria is an old-fashioned Grape Pudding made out of Grape Must. A very sweet treat with earthy and warming flavors!

Table Of Contents

• Ingredients
• Adding Grape Molasses
• How To Make
• Baking It
• Serve With
• Recipe

Ingredients

This budget-friendly dessert is made simply out of flour, cornstarch, Grape Must, honey or Grape Molasses, and cinnamon for flavoring. On top, it is garnished with ground nuts either walnuts or almonds, and sometimes even sesame seeds. Plus extra ground cinnamon.

In some islands in the Aegean people also add Mastic to flavor it. While in other areas of Greece, they add Lemon Geranium.

Moustalevria or Grape Pudding is a dessert made in other Mediterranean countries as well such as Italy, Spain, and even in Cyprus where they call it Palouzes.

Adding Grape Molasses

Grape pudding can be made with Grape molasses instead, mixed together with some water. Grape Molasses is in fact Grape Must that's been reduced down to a thick syrup. So if you see a Grape Pudding that's darker red in color it's because it is made with Grape Molasses.

• You can see here all about Grape Molasses and how to make it at home.

In this recipe, we're using only a small amount of Grape Molasses (just 2 tablespoons) and that's optional as you can use honey instead of it. It will enhance the sweetness of the pudding and its color slightly.

I don't like using too much Grape Molasses as the flavor becomes way too sweet and strong for my liking. But you can always give it a go and see what you like best.

How To Make

Grape Pudding is made on the stovetop in just a few minutes. To make it you mix some of the grape must together with the flour and cornstarch to form a paste. Then pass this paste through a fine mesh sieve to remove any flour lumps.

Then heat the remaining grape must with the honey (or grape molasses), and the cinnamon, and gradually add the flour paste to it to thicken it.

The only thing you need to do is stir with a whisk until the pudding thickens. Keep the heat to medium-low and be patient. It won't take more than 20 minutes.

You will know it's done as it will feel very gelatinous and thick when you stir it inside the pot and when you hold the whisk it will still be a bit runny. You can test by adding a small amount with a teaspoon on a plate so you can see how thick it gets as it cools.

Transfer to small bowls and allow to cool and thicken at room temperature. Then refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.

Baking It

To make Moustalevria last longer people sometimes would sun-dry it (no one goes into trouble doing this anymore). They would simply pour the mixture into a pan and then placing a mesh net on top, they let it sun-dry for a couple of days. It would get firm this way and the flavor much stronger. Then they would keep it for up to a year in a dark cupboard.

An alternative to sun-drying is baking. You can pour the Grape Pudding into a pan and bake at a low temperature until it gets really firm. Just keep the temperature low at around 120 - 140 °C (250 - 285 °F).

Serve With

Moustalevria is always served with either ground walnuts, almonds, or sesame seeds. If you do go into trouble toasting the almonds or sesame seeds the final flavors will be most rewarding.

And since this grape dessert is pretty sweet it goes perfectly with a cup of strong Greek coffee or espresso. Enjoy!

Recipe