A Pudding without Milk!

I am so excited as I have a pudding recipe that my husband enjoys. He is allergic to dairy and watches longingly as I prepare pudding for my mother of almost 92 years to help her gain weight.

The pudding recipe that I use for my mother, also works for my husband. Since my husband does not tolerate milk and is sensitive to eggs, I removed these from the ingredients and substituted Rice Milk or Almond Milk. He loves the pudding that includes:

2 cups of Rice Milk or Almond Milk
3 T Minute Tapioca (generous Tablespoons)
3 T sugar (scant Tablespoons)

Let the above ingredients sit in a saucepan for about 5 minutes.

Cook the pudding on medium heat a bit past boiling, stirring constantly.

Add the vanilla (I use about 1 teaspoon real vanilla, as my husband loves vanilla) and take the pudding off the heat but continue stirring.

Pour the pudding immediately into serving bowls, carefully, as it is very hot.

Please let everyone know that you are serving "hot" pudding. The pudding will become more and more dense as it cools but my family loves it hot.

My mother loves the pudding as hot as it can be served. She has a technique for eating it. Mom skims the outside rim of the pudding and continues this process until she has finished. Although my Mom eats what I consider to be very little, she can manage two servings of the homemade tapioca pudding. Mom's pudding includes a beaten egg that I add to the saucepan before cooking using whole milk. The egg adds a bit of richness and color to my Mom's pudding while the pudding for my husband varies in color whether I am using the Rice Milk or the Almond Milk.

My husband and my mother now both enjoy eating pudding warm. For my mother I grate fresh nutmeg into the pudding while it is sitting in the saucepan for the first 5 minutes prior to cooking. I also grate a bit of nutmeg on the top of each serving to be eaten by my Mom.

My mother can smell the freshly grated nutmeg with its fresh spice and lemon scent. I do not get the same response from my Mom when I use nutmeg from a can. I do not include nutmeg in the pudding for my husband. For one variation, I add cinnamon to the pudding for my Mom and my husband. Both also enjoy the pudding when it includes sliced bananas. I place the slices of bananas in each individual serving dish and make sure to cover all the banana slices with the hot pudding.

The first time I ate warm pudding was when I visited my friend Carolyn and her daughter many years ago. Carolyn made the most heavenly puddings and served the freshly made pudding, warm -- I had only eaten cold pudding until that time and was always impatiently waiting until the pudding cooled off and could be placed in the refrigerator.

At my friends home, I realized that there is nothing better than warm pudding in the middle of our cold Midwestern winters. Carolyn's young daughter, Jenny, loved the warm pudding as much as I did. I remember Carolyn's butterscotch pudding that warmed the palette as well as one's soul. Jenny would chose the pudding flavor for dessert each evening. Jenny is grown and has two young daughters of her own. I imagine her young family enjoying warm pudding together.

Carolyn's tradition continues in my home. The pudding that is refrigerated in our house is microwaved as everyone wants warm pudding, a special treat to eat as one watches the snow fall. I am careful to pour pudding into serving dishes that can be refrigerated and microwaved as no one in my family wants to eat cold pudding, once they have enjoyed warm pudding.

Thanks Carolyn, for sharing your warm pudding and home with me so long ago.