Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Old-Fashioned Creamy French Vanilla Pudding


This is, without a doubt, the best vanilla pudding I have ever eaten. It's everything you want in a pudding; light, creamy, smooth and delicious. This pudding is soft-set so if you want the pudding to hold it’s shape on a plate or in a pie crust, double the cornstarch.

Example: for every cup of milk, use 1 tbls cornstarch, 3 tbls sugar, 1 egg yolk, and 1 tbls butter. With the addition of ½ teaspoon vanilla and ½ teaspoon salt, you will have a perfect vanilla pudding.

Always use the best ingredients you can buy














All cooked and ready to chill














Recipe

Ingredients
3 large farm fresh egg yolks (I used eggs from A&M Farms)
9 tbls sugar
3 tbls cornstarch
3/8 tsp fine sea salt
¾ cup cream and 2¼ cups whole milk
3 tbls unsalted butter, room temperature
1½ tsp vanilla 

Garnish
lightly sweetened whipped cream, optional

Method
In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks with ¼ cup of milk until well combined. Reserve.

In a 3-quart saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt, and then slowly whisk in the cold milk and cream a little at a time to ensure no lumps form. Scrape the bottom and sides of the saucepan with a spatula.

Over medium heat, stirring constantly, bring to a bare simmer.

Ladle ½ cup of the hot pudding into the egg yolks and whisk rapidly. Now add the egg yolk mixture back to the saucepan. This tempers the egg and helps to prevent curdling.

Lower the heat to medium-low and continue stirring the pudding until it thickens to the point that it coats the back of the spatula, from 2-4 minutes (pudding will be thickening).

Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla until the butter is melted. Immediately pour the pudding into a medium mixing bowl or 4-cup glass measuring cup.

Alternatively, you can pour pudding directly into six ½-cup serving dishes.

Quickly press a small piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming.

Let cool, and then refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.

To serve, spoon pudding into six, ½-cup ramekins (if you didn’t do this earlier). Top each serving with a generous mound of whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Yield: about 3 cups, or six ½-cup servings.



















Recipe adapted from Luna's Cafe

Enjoy,
Mary