Tapioca Pudding

This month's what's baking challenge had me super excited. I planned on baking one of my family's favorite desserts, however I had to pick our second favorite due to the it being so humid lately. The humidity doesn't help for the Portuguese cookies I had in mind, so my second thought was to make a nice tapioca pudding, this month and then bake the cookies next month.

A little secret about this recipe is it's so easy and so basic, that anyone could make this. Over the years my mother has adapted this recipe so that the pudding is extra creamy. One of the things she has done is use half whole milk, and half skim milk. By doing this she was able to cut back on the fat and calories. Something else she did was add more milk to achieve a creamier texture which has been a great hit in our house. I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as my brother and I have when we were growing up. Like always Happy Baking!

Recipe Source my mom

***TIP*** Some small pearl tapioca requires a few hours to an overnight soaking in water. Make sure that when you buy your tapioca pearls that you read the package to see if it's an instant tapioca, or what the soaking requirements are.


WHAT YOU'LL
1 cup of small pearl tapioca (Make sure that they have soaked)
4 cups whole milk
3 cups skim milk (you could use all whole milk if you like, we use skim to cut back on the fat and calories)
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs beaten
3/4 cup of sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 tablespoon of cinnamon

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

After soaking the tapioca, combine tapioca, milk, and salt in 1 1/2 quart pan on medium high heat.

Stir until boiling and then let simmer for about 5 minutes.

Uncovered and allow it to cook at the lowest possible heat, adding sugar gradually.

Beat eggs in a separate bowl.

Mix in some of the hot tapioca into the eggs very slowly to equalize the temperature of the two mixtures by doing this you will avoid curdling.

Mix eggs mixture in pan with the rest of tapioca.

Slowly bring mixture barely to a boil, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat and stir several minutes at a low simmer, stirring constantly until you get a nice thick pudding consistency.

Once thick add vanilla and cinnamon and continue to stir until well combined.

Pour into serving dish and serve either warm or chilled.