Recipe Vanilla Pudding from scratch

Best desert, everyone moans.
How to make a very nice smooth creamy vanilla pudding...

Be prepared, this is not something you should be making minutes before the guests arrive unless you want to show off your mad skills in the kitchen and everyone will be standing around applauding. (in which case you better not mess up)

But it can be made beforehand and kept in the refrigerator until it is time to serve the desert.









You will need....

For the base:

1 tbsp powdered cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar
4 milk chocolate digestive biscuits
5 whole wheat biscuits 

For the pudding:

4 egg yokes
40 gr butter
40 cornstarch
1 vanilla pod
130 gr sugar
500 ml milk

250 ml double cream (for whipping)

For the Topping

Berries and fruits,
these look nice.
Blueberries
Strawberries
Kiwi
But basically, use whatever catches your eye.

(I would have used a wider selection but fruits are ridiculously expensive in Iceland, especially during the winter)






Now... What to do with the lot...

Mix the biscuits, sugar and cinnamon in a bag and crush until it's nice and sandy.

Slice open and gut the vanilla pod.

In a pot put:
milk,
butter,
vanilla pod and seeds,
half the sugar.

In a bowl put:
egg yokes,
cornstarch,
other half of sugar.

Heat and beat...



Heat the pot while stirring the mixture... when it shows signs of starting to boil remover from heat and let cool down.

Beat the mixture in the bowl til it's nice and smooth, it's going to be a bit lumpy at first but just keep at it... it's going to be fine.

When the liquid in the pot has cooled,
 (it's ready if it's not uncomfortable to dip your finger in it, Be brave)
put it back on the heat and... 

Add the mix from the bowl stirring all the time
it will thicken quite fast.


When it's thick, let it cool back down again...

(I put mine outside because... well... it's cold out there.)

Meanwhile whip the double cream till it's nice an fluffy.

When the pudding is cold you are almost done...







whisk it up again and remove the vanilla pods

Drop a dollop of the freshly whipped cream into the pudding and beat till it's smooth...









Put the pudding in a bowl


It should look something like this.
It's good like this but it gets better...

Add the rest of the whipped cream and gently mix the two together folding it in.

When it's nice and velvety...
like this...
you can put it in a piping bag
(less messy when you want to put it in the glasses)

tip:
At this stage you could keep the bag in the fridge overnight and do the rest later....

Next level...
Final preparations.

Put one or two tablespoons of the cookie crumble mix into the glasses.

(Here are some examples, the smaller 'glasses' are actually meant for candles but I see food in everything)

Pipe a layer of pudding onto the base...

add some kiwi 

add some strawberries

add some blueberries

Dust with Icing sugar, Cinnamon and Sugar...
as if it wasn't sweet enough already :)




Then another layer of pudding
some decoration pieces of fruit
and a sprinkling of Icing sugar:

Ready for serving
Smiles all around