Puddings (rice redux, vanilla, chocolate)

Kozy Shack makes some excellent rice, vanilla, chocolate, and tapioca puddings. However, my kids’ consumption rate and the Kozy Shack price point ($3 – $4 for a 24 ounce tub) are such that I’m strongly motivated to come up with less-expensive, homemade alternatives.

I’ve had success with the rice pudding recipe, even tapering back the on the cream (something I don’t typically have around the house) and using just milk. Here is a totally different recipe, using less rice and a longer baking time. It’s closer to what my mom used to make me when I was a kid.

Baked rice pudding – Fannie Farmer Cookbook
4C milk
1/2 t salt
2/3 C sugar
3 T rice

1. Preheat oven to 300°F
2. put all the ingredients in a buttered baking dish and stir to blend
3. Bake for 3 1/2 hours, stirring three times during the first hour of baking so the rice doesn’t settle

Sunday, after the excitement of plumbing and the rat wore off, I made Blancmange, a cornstarch vanilla pudding. It’s very simple, and if cooked long enough, the corn starch flavour isn’t pronounced.

Blancmange (vanilla pudding) —
Fannie Farmer Cookbook
3 T cornstarch
4 T sugar
1/8 t salt
2 C milk
1 t vanilla

1. Mix the cornstarch, sugar, and salt with 1/4 C of the milk.
2. In a heavy-bottomed pan over moderately low heat, heat the remaining milk, then slowly add the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened
3. Continue to cook for about 15 minutes so the raw taste of the cornstarch disappears.
4. Let cool, then add the vanilla. Cover and chill.

* For chocolate pudding, add 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate as you heat the milk. If you’re making the vanilla version, you probably want to use a clear vanilla. Mine has a brown tinge that tints most foods, making them an unaesthetic color.

The Cooks’ Illustrated version of chocolate pudding is great, but much more involved than chocolate-flavoured blancmange. Next time I try this, I will sub the cream. Also, most of these recipes recommend adding the vanilla after you’re done cooking. I suspect this has something to do with the alcohol content of most vanillas. (It instantly boils.)

Double chocolate pudding —
The Best Recipe
2 T Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 T cornstarch
2/3 C sugar
1/8 t salt
1 C cream
3 large egg yolks
2 C milk
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 T unsalted butter, softened
2 t vanilla extract

1. Sift cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar, and salt into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. (NB: “heavy-bottomed” is a euphemism for “you’re likely to burn something on it, so use a good pan that you can scour.”). Slowly whisk in the light cream, the yolks, then the milk. Stir in the chocolate. (The clumps will smooth out as you cook it.)
2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, scraping the entire pot — bottoms and sides. Pudding will gradually darken and thicken.
3. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring gently, and constantly with a wooden spoon, until the pudding thickly coats the spoon. (Temperature is about 200°F).
4. Pass the pudding through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Stir the butter and vanilla into the pudding.
5. Serve warm or cover the surface and cool 30 minutes before refrigerating.