Monday, July 4, 2011

Vanilla "Chai" Pudding

Who doesn't love a good pudding?  It may be a humble dessert (until you caramelize the top), but there's something rich and comforting about a bowl of pudding.  Another bonus: it is easy to make at high altitude, unlike baked goods.

However, the instant mix in the grocery store doesn't exactly pack a lot of nutritional punch.  Its one claim to healthiness is that it is high in calcium (because you mix it with milk).  But the powder itself is a little lacking, and definitely not a "real food." *

I've dabbled in various custards the last few years, including a "baby custard" at the Weston A. Price Foundation website that doesn't have any grains or egg whites in it.  It had delicious flavor, but thus far most of my grain-less puddings have cooked too fast or too long and scrambled the eggs to a quiche-like consistency.  Yuck.

I recently discovered a really delicious chocolate pudding recipe at Penniless Parenting that includes a little bit of cornstarch to help the pudding keep a nice consisency.  However, my kids are always eager to try whatever pudding I make, and I would rather not fill them with caffeine from the cocoa.  So I tried a new and delicious non-chocolate variation that (wow!) turned out well!  It doesn't actually contain any chai tea, but the flavor is almost identical to the classic coffeehouse drink.

My one beef with this pudding is that the milk in it gets cooked... so even if you start with raw milk, you end up basically pasteurizing it as you cook it.  To avoid that cooked milk, my next pudding project will be this fantastic-sounding raw banana pudding created by Melissa at Dyno-Mom.


Ingredients:
3 c milk
1/4 c sugar (or sucanat/Rapadura)
1/4 c corn starch (or potato starch)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
3 eggs

Directions:
Stir milk, corn starch, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in saucepan over low heat, until no lumps remain.  Continue to heat and stir until mixture begins to thicken.  In small bowl, stir eggs quickly.  When milk mixture has begun to thicken, put one spoonful of milk mixture into eggs and stir quickly.  Then pour egg mixture all at once into saucepan and stir quickly.  Cook, stirring continuously, until pudding just starts to bubble.  Remove from heat and pour into individual serving dishes.  Cover and refrigerate if desired.

*Ingredients of Jello Brand Instant Pudding: Sugar, Modified Food Starch, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Salt, Disodium Phosphate and Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate (For Thickening), Mono- and Diglycerides (Prevent Foaming), Artificial Color, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Bha (Preservative).


Posted at Penny pinching Party , Show Me What Ya Got , Tempt My Tummy TuesdayTuesdays at the Table  Tuesday Tasty Tidbits, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, and Traditional Tuesdays

10 comments:

  1. The only pudding I would eat as a child (well, and honestly to this day) was the warm homemade vanilla pudding leftover in the pan after my daddy made pies. I swoon now just thinking of it with sliced bananas on top... yummy.
    It was just your simple milk, sugar, cornstarch, eggs, vanilla recipe... but it changed lives and righted wrongs in the world, if you know what I mean. :)
    As for 'scrambling' eggs when making pudding, trying tempuring the eggs by whisking a ladel of the heated milk mixture into the eggs first to bring them up to the same temp... then slowly whisk them all into the hot milk. No more scambled eggs in your pudding. Yay.

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  2. love pudding and this one sounds very tasty for sure come see what I shared at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

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  3. This sounds so delishious!! I love chai. I can't wait to make and try this.

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  4. Hi, Valerie,
    Thanks for the egg tempering idea. I think that's part of why this recipe is so successful! I can totally see you as a child sitting around eating homemade pudding. :)
    Tanya, thanks for stopping by! Hope it is successful!

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  5. Thanks for the recipe, I'm gonna try this soon, I love chai tea!

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  6. Andy, I hope you enjoy it! I love chai too!

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  7. Hmm, I've never tried anything but the package kind (I know, hiding my face in shame). This looks easy enough to give it a whirl and my kids love pudding.

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  8. Kimberly, it is nice and easy! Hope you enjoy !

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  9. this sounds really tasty. I love the spices in the pudding. Thanks for linking up with Made From Scratch Tuesday!

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