Skip to main content

Vanilla Pudding


Vanilla pudding is anything but plain. Creamy, rich, indulgent, and flavored with fragrant vanilla, it is the ultimate comfort food and sophisticated dessert. I highly recommend using a vanilla bean in this recipe; the tiny little seeds burst in your mouth as you eat it with a vanilla flavor that dwarfs anything an extract can produce. Additionally, you can use the pod to make vanilla sugar, which you may notice that I love to use in my recipes.

This recipe comes together in a matter of minutes; I think it is as easy to make as vanilla pudding from a package, but the flavor and texture is infinitely superior. I like to eat my puddings warm, but it is also delightful after being chilled. Either way you like it, enjoy!

Vanilla Pudding



Ingredients

2 cups of whole milk

1/2 cup light cream

1/3 cup sugar

3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

3 egg yolks

pinch salt

1 tablespoon butter

Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan. If using, split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrap out the seeds with the back of a knife. Add the seeds and pod to the cream and milk mixture. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.

Meanwhile, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the three egg yolks and whisk them into the dry ingredients until you have a thick paste.

When your milk mixture is simmering, ladle about a 1/4 cup of it into your egg yolk paste. Mix the ladled milk and paste together well. Repeat another 2 times. This is called tempering, where you slowly raise the temperature of your egg mixture to avoid scrambling your yolks. Add the tempered egg yolk mixture to the saucepan with the remaining cream mixture. Turn the heat to low, and whisk continuously until your mixture becomes thick.

Add the tablespoon of butter and vanilla extract, if using. Mix well to combine. Pass the whole mixture through a sieve to remove the vanilla bean and any lumps that may have formed. Enjoy immediately, or put into a container to chill. Press plastic wrap onto the surface of your pudding to avoid the formation of a skin. 


To make vanilla sugar: Rinse your vanilla pod and let dry. In an airtight container, add sugar and the vanilla bean. After a few days, the vanilla bean will have permeated the sugar and you will have vanilla sugar!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cookies

Like many of you, I made an entire Thanksgiving Day feast for only my husband and I. As such, I have an inordinate amount of leftovers. Expect my blog to largely star ways to dress up leftovers, because I have freezer meals of Thanksgiving day to last a lifetime. In this recipe, I was looking for a way to use up cranberry sauce and leftover walnuts from my apple crisp. Cranberry sauce drop cookies seemed the perfect thing to make; enjoy it with a cup of hot cocoa. I plan on gifting some to my parents; a way to break bread near the holiday without breaking protocols. Enjoy!  Ingredients: 3 3/4 cup all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 sticks of butter, softened 1 1/2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 cup cranberry sauce 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup chopped nuts Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set aside a rimmed baking tray. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl; set aside. With ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Samosas with Yogurt Sauce

I love exploring many kinds of cuisine in my kitchen because I can control the spice level, and in the case of this recipe, the use of cilantro. Cilantro lovers out there- sub it info the parsley here. I have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap, which limits my ability to enjoy some dishes in restaurants, but is easily rectified in my own kitchen. I hope you enjoy! Ingredients:  3 russet potatoes 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped 2 teaspoons curry powder 5 ounces peas Six 8 inch flour tortillas 4 ounces Greek yogurt Oil, salt, pepper, vinegar 4 tablespoons butter Method: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet. Scrub potatoes and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces. Place in a large saucepan with a generous pinch of salt and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Cover and bring to a boil over high; uncover and cook until tenderDrain potatoes and transfer to a bowl.  Heat 2 tablespoons oil in reserved saucepan over medium. Add chopped garl...
1 comment
Read more

Peek-a-boo Squares

My grandma, Mimi, taught me this recipe. I used to make this with her and my mother as a child. It is my very favorite dessert. It is incredibly easy to make, and even easier to eat. My favorite part of making this as a child was dusting every bar generously with snowy white powdered sugar.  My favorite version of this dessert uses canned blueberry pie filling; I vastly prefer Libby brand over the store brand. You can make blueberry pie filling from scratch with sugar, cornstarch, bleberries, etc. but using the canned stuff is easy in a pinch and is much for nostalgic for me. Plus, I don’t notice a vast improvement over my homemade blueberry pie filling and the Libby brand; it just takes me longer to put this dessert together.  I have been known to whip up a pan of these Friday night and have them disappear by Saturday afternoon. Be warned, these things are addictive! Ingredients: 3 cups of all-purpose flour 2 cups of granulated sugar 4 eggs 2 ...
Post a Comment
Read more