Vanillepudding (vanilla pudding)
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
Pudding
- 500 ml milk rounded
- 1 vanilla pod, split and scraped rounded
- 60 g sugar rounded
- 25 g cornstarch rounded
- 50 ml cold milk, for the slurry rounded
- 1 g fine salt rounded
Method
Method
- Heat the milk, vanilla pod and scraped seeds, sugar and salt in a pot until just below a simmer. Let infuse for 5 minutes off the heat.
- Whisk the cornstarch into the cold milk until completely smooth, with no lumps.
- Bring the vanilla milk back to a bare simmer. Whisk in the cornstarch slurry gradually, not all at once, while whisking constantly.
- Simmer for about 2 minutes, whisking, until visibly thickened and holding its shape when a spoon is drawn through it.
- Remove the vanilla pod. Pour into bowls or glasses. Let cool for 10 minutes, then chill for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Infuse a real vanilla pod rather than adding extract at the end. Steeping the pod and scraped seeds in the hot milk draws out a rounder, more layered vanilla flavour than stirring extract into the finished pudding.
- Add the cornstarch slurry gradually, whisking constantly. Pouring it all in at once overwhelms the liquid before it can distribute evenly, leaving lumps that never fully smooth out.
- Simmer just long enough to thicken, not longer. Overcooked cornstarch-thickened pudding can start to thin back out or turn gluey.
- It keeps for 3 days in the fridge; press plastic wrap directly onto the surface while it cools to stop a skin from forming, if you don’t want one.
Ingredient substitutions
- A real vanilla pod is worth using here since the flavour carries the whole dish; if unavailable, use good vanilla extract added at the very end instead of infused.
- A layer of fruit compote at the bottom of the serving glass is a classic way to serve this.
- A pinch of ground cinnamon in the milk is a simple variation.