Yesterday I received a package in the mail containing a bag of a substance with a higher value than my retirement account. It is now hidden away safely in my refrigerator.
Vanilla beans!
Denise sent them to me! (Thank you, thank you, thank you, Denise!) I couldn't wait to use one so I found a
recipe for vanilla pudding and adapted it to be dairy free. Basically I substituted almond milk for the whole milk. Big whoop. I have grown to prefer almond milk to cow's milk anyway.
It's a pretty basic cooked vanilla pudding but the difference is in using a vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract. A vanilla bean will give great vanilla flavor and we'll have those adorable little vanilla freckles in the pudding!
Seeding a vanilla bean is easy. Just cut it length-wise and use a little scoop or the tip of a knife to scrape out the centers. I used my smidgen measuring spoon. It was part of my Christmas present from my God-child Hanna. (Thank you, Hanna!) She also gave me the whisk pictured below. I needed it. Remember what my
old whisk looked like?!
After I removed the seeds, I let the beans hang out in the 2 cups of almond milk as I heated it to boiling.
In the meantime, I whisked together the sugar, corn starch, salt and vanilla seeds and slowly added the other 2/3 of unheated almond milk and egg. I added the boiling almond milk (vanilla pods removed) to this mixture and then simmered it for several minutes until it was thick.
And we have freckles, folks...
Now some moms might put the pudding in little individual cups and place them in the refrigerator for a creamy dessert or calcium loaded bedtime treat. I put it all in one big bowl. I prefer my pudding warm....so I don't have to wait. Nobody else is around. I think we all know where this is going...
...it is delicious!
Vanilla beans! Denise sent them to me! (Thank you, thank you, thank you, Denise!) I couldn't wait to use one so I found a recipe for vanilla pudding and adapted it to be dairy free. Basically I substituted almond milk for the whole milk. Big whoop. I have grown to prefer almond milk to cow's milk anyway.
It's a pretty basic cooked vanilla pudding but the difference is in using a vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract. A vanilla bean will give great vanilla flavor and we'll have those adorable little vanilla freckles in the pudding!
Seeding a vanilla bean is easy. Just cut it length-wise and use a little scoop or the tip of a knife to scrape out the centers. I used my smidgen measuring spoon. It was part of my Christmas present from my God-child Hanna. (Thank you, Hanna!) She also gave me the whisk pictured below. I needed it. Remember what my old whisk looked like?!
After I removed the seeds, I let the beans hang out in the 2 cups of almond milk as I heated it to boiling.
In the meantime, I whisked together the sugar, corn starch, salt and vanilla seeds and slowly added the other 2/3 of unheated almond milk and egg. I added the boiling almond milk (vanilla pods removed) to this mixture and then simmered it for several minutes until it was thick.
And we have freckles, folks...
Now some moms might put the pudding in little individual cups and place them in the refrigerator for a creamy dessert or calcium loaded bedtime treat. I put it all in one big bowl. I prefer my pudding warm....so I don't have to wait. Nobody else is around. I think we all know where this is going...
...it is delicious!
You are so funny. I'm glad you already put them to good use. That pudding looks so good with all of the little freckles in it! I'll have to try it with coconut milk, since we can't do almonds.
ReplyDeleteI remember your old whisk, which I liked because it resembled some of my utensils that have been SHOVED (by "Not Me") in our drawers, but your new one is very cool!