PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Extra: Homemade Vanilla Pudding

Homemade Vanilla Pudding

Who doesn’t like pudding? I sure do, and it’s great, when served all by itself or as a desert immediately after a meal. When I was a kid, my mom would make pudding, and yes, it was a store bought boxed mix. I think it was Jello brand, that you added milk to and heated on the kitchen stove until it thickened.

However, today it seems that all you can find at the grocery store is instant box mix that you add cold milk to and whisk or shake (in a sealed container) until it thickens, but that just doesn’t taste the same, at least to me, it doesn’t. So I started making my own from scratch with just a few simple ingredients that most, if not all, of us already have in our kitchens. My taste buds tell me that I got it right!

Here is how you can make pudding from scratch in just a few minutes.

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Put the egg yolks into a medium size bowl and whisk until light yellow and increase in volume (about 1 minute). Add the cornstarch and ¼ cup of the milk to the egg yokes and mix until smooth and set aside.

2. Put the remaining 2 cups (0.47 l) of milk – sugar and salt into a sauce pan and heat to a scald over medium heat, whisking constantly, which is when the liquid is 180 to 190°F. (82 to 88°C). This is before the mixture comes to a boil, at this stage you will see little bubbles starting to form at the sides of the pan.

Remove the pan from the heat and while whisking constantly, very slowly drizzle the egg yolk mixture into the pan.

3. Now return the pan to the stove and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the pudding comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, continue whisking until the pudding thickens (1 to 2 minutes).

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and butter until well blended. Pour or spoon equal amounts into your serving dishes, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or two until chilled. Serve and enjoy.

Notes: For chocolate pudding, add Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)… ¼ cup — added in step 2.