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Pudding


aguynamedrobert

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Ok...I have been working on my Pudding recipe lately. I have been using different Vanilla's from different origins and some puddings with eggs some without. Some with corn starch and some without. What is everyone's favorite or best way to make vanilla pudding? Any recipes or suggestions?

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No pudding lovers or makers out there? I would love to hear some comments. I am designing my recipe right now with cornstarch and egg as thickeners as well as using both Madagascar and Tahitian Vanilla...I would love to hear what others have done...

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Can I ask a potentially dumb question?  What's the difference between pudding, custard and pastry cream?

Gfron - I'll bite! (Don't feel like working today. Unfortunately my Food Lover's Companion is on loan. What does your new favorite book, the PC Companion have to say?)

I'd say it's mostly semantic, with some ratio thrown in. Pudding and custard are pretty general terms - remember the Brits file all desserts under 'puddings'. An American pudding is a dessert in its own right, probably thickened with cornstarch but possibly with eggs added for richness and served fairly simply, in a bowl, maybe with some whipped cream or a cookie. I tend to define custard as milk/cream thickened with eggs, it can be thick (creme brulee) or thin (creme anglaise), and baked or stirred. I would also classify flan/creme caramel and zabaglione as custards, even if zabaglione is made with wine instead of dairy, it is still thickened with eggs. Pastry cream is what it is, a thick custard with eggs and cornstarch or flour usually used as a component in a more complex dessert. It is not usually served as a dessert by itself, unless you are one of those cheater pastry chefs who keeps a huge vat of it around to pass off as creme brulee or thin down for creme anglaise when needed.

Guynamedrobert - are you serving your puddings as a dessert or using it as a component? I think most of us will have slightly different ratios for eggs and starches depending on what we're using it for.

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I think of custard as a pretty generic term ... it covers a wide range of egg yolk thickened dairy concoctions. Pastry cream, pudding (and the puddinglike dessert called 'custard'), creme anglaise, creme brulee, flan, cheesecake, and ice cream are more specific applications of custard.

And as it so happens, pudding is in the news today: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/dining/2...r=1&oref=slogin

Edited by paulraphael (log)

Notes from the underbelly

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For "plain" vanilla pudding, I like the silky texture one gets with potato starch.

4 egg yolks

2/3 cup superfine sugar

2/3 cup potato starch

1 1/2 cups milk or half & half

pinch of kosher salt

1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract.

(Or you can split a vanilla bean and simmer it gently in the milk for 10 minutes but you must cool the milk to lukewarm before mixing with the other ingredients.)

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light yellow.

With beaters on slow speed add the potato starch a tablespoon or so at a time alternating with the milk until completely blended. Add the salt and vanilla and beat until blended.

Transfer to a double boiler over simmering water and cook, stirring constantly until it has thickened so it covers the back of a spoon fairly thickly.

Pour into custard cups and set aside to cool. Do not refrigerate until cooled to room temp.

The "recipe" is similar to that used for Crema Fritta, except I simply pour it into custard cups instead of into a rectangular pan to be cut into squares. (Obviously my version is not going to be fried.)

I should have added the note that I began using this recipe because of someone who could not eat wheat or corn products.

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Just the other day, I was searching for a generic pudding topic and came up dry. I like pudidng. I've made a chocoalte pudding from Cook's Iullstrated several times. Recently, there Michael Ruhlman had a blog entry about butterscotch and discussed butterscotch pudding. I would like to give that a try some time. And also a vanilla pudding.

Thanks for starting this thread. I think it will prove pretty useful.

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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  • 5 months later...

Just the other day I made an interesting pudding from scratch- it was so easy and so good that now I've got the bug to do it more often. Essentially I just decided to make a kheer variant without the rice or vermicelli or tapioca- smooth like the consistency of vanilla pudding but flavored with cardomom and saffron. I used a simple recipe (no eggs, butter added at the end), and now it's gotten me thinking about what to do next.

I'd like to try my hand at a Mexican chocolate pudding- does anybody have any suggestions about the best way to go about it? I'm assuming you just add cocoa powder to the base recipe, and then I can steep some cinnamon sticks in the milk like I did with the cardomom. Does adding melted chocolate work well?

How about making coconut pudding? I have canned coconut milk at home. I'm concerned about smoothness- maybe I'll run it through cheesecloth first to remove any small bits. Other than that I think I'll just substitute it for the regular milk, maybe cut down on the sugar. Any other suggestions?

aka Michael

Chi mangia bene, vive bene!

"...And bring us the finest food you've got, stuffed with the second finest."

"Excellent, sir. Lobster stuffed with tacos."

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