Mon 20 Apr 2009 12:47 am
Small to large: Raw tapioca pearls, soaked tapioca, tapioca pudding/Photo by David Dickey
My mother never made tapioca pudding. I never ordered it in restaurants (if any restaurants even offered it) or bought it from Kozy Shack. Some recipe somewhere must have called for tapioca pearls, though, because I had a half-opened bag in the pantry the night I inexplicably got a craving for a bowl. Maybe I just finally got enough exposure to bubble tea that the texture of tapioca began to seem alluring rather than odd.
The night after eating the sweet, comforting, surprisingly light treat, I made another batch. I’ve gone through another bag or two of tapioca pearls since then. And I’ve decided not to toss the half-opened bags of hazelnut flour, ground flaxseed, almond meal, and more on the pantry shelves. I have a feeling they could come in handy for something good again.
For my tapioca pudding, I tinker with the recipe on the back of the Bob’s Red Mill bag. I double or even triple that recipe, to start with, because it’s hard for my mixer to whip the two egg whites called for in its single batch, and because I like having leftovers. I use whole milk instead of 2%, and simmer the tapioca with vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks. It usually keeps its lift and texture for about 48 hours.
Tapioca Pudding
2/3 cup small pearl tapioca
1 1/2 cups water
4 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
2 cinnamon sticks
1. Separate eggs
Sunny separated yolks
2. Soak tapioca in water in a pot for 30 minutes. The pearls will quickly swell up.
Soaked tapioca pearls
3. Slit vanilla bean and scrape out seeds; add the seeds and the scraped bean to the pot (alternately, just add a teaspoon of vanilla extract).
Scraping vanilla bean
4. Add milk, salt, lightly beaten egg yolks, and cinnamon sticks to tapioca and stir over medium heat until boiling. Simmer uncovered over very low heat for 10-15 minutes.
Seattle Spice Company cinnamon sticks
5. Beat egg whites with sugar until stiff peaks form (the original recipe calls for soft peaks, but I like them better a little farther along).
Whipping egg whites
6. Fold 1-1/2 cups of the hot tapioca into the egg whites, then gently fold mixture back into saucepan. Stir over low heat for about 3 minutes. Cool.
– Adapted from Bob’s Red Mill
Yum! I love tapioca pudding and haven’t had it in more years than I can count. I will have to rectify that. Thanks for the reminder!
Wow, I had no idea Tapioca pudding had egg whites in it, I thought it was made in the same way as rice pudding.
I adore the first photo you posted, very lovely. :)
To whip just one or two egg whites in my KitchenAid, I cheat and tip the bowl a tiny bit. I just take one side off its little spike and tip it the tiniest bit. You have to make sure that the whisk does not hit the side of the bowl, but you will see that it actually picks up the egg whites now.
That said, I still recommend doubling the recipe. I’m going to make some soon, and I’m going to double it this time, the last batch went so fast!
I loved tapioca pudding as a kid, my mother served it with strawberries steeped in sugar syrup. I once tried to replicate it for my sisters. Alas, the gummy version I produced led to countless jokes and a years-long ban on my desserts at family gatherings. Thanks for the recipe. Perhaps with it I will redeem myself.
Mr. Dickey does take a nice snapshot!
Luigia, if you make it with the strawberry syrup, I want to try some!
Mrs. Mordecai, I’ll try that KitchenAid tip, and postpone Beater Blades yet one more time.
And Rachel, you can make it without the egg whites. It won’t be as light and airy, but it is still good enough to satisfy a craving. Thank you!
Hi! I found this recipe on TasteSpottin and I’m so glad it brought me to your blog, it’s gorgeous!
I like this recipe, it’s simple and classic. I’m trying it soon and I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I love the first photo, witht he spoons, very creative!
do you leave 1.5 cups of soaking water in the recipe?????