National Vanilla Pudding Day is celebrated on May 22. That doesn’t seem too difficult. Grab a box of instant pudding–or the kind you boil, if you have the time–and make some vanilla pudding. Then it’s on to celebrate National Red Wine Hour. But we can’t keep things that simple. Pudding is, after all, a very versatile dessert. It can be used as a pie filling, or as a topping, or as…well, a dessert.
Pudding can also be made with almost any flavor–favorites being vanilla, chocolate, and butterscotch. However, it can also refer to steak and kidney pudding or liver pudding, which is not nearly as appetizing to kids. Pudding and custard are very similar, except that custard is a bit thicker because it contains eggs.
Anyway, if you would like to make some vanilla pudding from scratch (just to show the kids that cooking from scratch isn’t that hard), then try this allrecipes.com idea for Honey Vanilla Pudding. It uses the sweetness of honey rather than pure cane sugar. And while it’s no instant mix, you’ll still find that the recipe is pretty easy… [photo via allrecipes.com]
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cup 2% milk
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp cornstarch
- ½ cup cold water
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 ½ tbsp utter
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Combine the milk and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil.
- In a cup or small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in cold water.
- When the milk begins to boil, stir in the cornstarch mixture, and cook stirring constantly until it thickens, about five minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the honey, butter, and vanilla.
Pour into a serving dish, cover, and chill. To keep a skin from forming on the top, place a layer of plastic directly on the surface.
