You've heard of the 100-mile diet where people eat only things that were grown within 100 miles. Well, I make a 100-yard ice cream that contains only ingredients that were made from within 100 yards of our kitchen -- goat milk, eggs, and maple syrup. That's it! And I decided recently to try to do something similar with pudding. And I got close! In addition to those three ingredients, it also has a bit of salt and some organic cornstarch for thickening. I buy organic cornstarch because about 90% of the corn grown in this country is GMO, which means it is in everything that has corn (cornstarch, corn syrup, corn oil, etc) on the ingredient list. So the only way to avoid GMO corn is to buy organic.
Homemade pudding is so yummy, and it only takes about ten to fifteen minutes to make. Put these ingredients into a blender:
4 cups milk
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 eggs
dash of salt
Blend for about 15 to 30 seconds on low until everything looks well blended. Pour the ingredients into a medium pot on medium heat and stir with a whisk until it starts to bubble around the edges and thicken. Keep stirring for about another 30 seconds to be sure it really is bubbling and thickening, and then turn off the heat. Pour into individual serving dishes. Grab a spoon and scrape the pan clean, eating what you scrape off. :) I love warm pudding! But most people like it chilled, so put the dishes in the frig to chill for a few hours before devouring.
I realize that not everyone has maple trees in their yard for boiling down their own syrup, so you can substitute an equal amount of honey or 2/3 cup sugar if you don't have maple syrup. And add 2 teaspoons of vanilla after the mixture comes to a boil. The maple syrup acts as both a sweetener and a flavor, but don't expect the overpowering flavor of things that have been artificially flavored and called "maple" because real maple syrup has a more subtle flavor than the fake stuff.
You really do need to use the blender rather than just whisking everything together in the pot because eggs have this little piece of white thingy on the yolk that will not break up if you don't use a blender. So, someone will wind up with this tough little thing in a bite of their pudding, and it's rather unnerving to feel something in your mouth when you're expecting the smooth sweetness of pudding. You especially don't want your guests to wonder what foreign object is in their pudding!
Most recipes call for only egg yolk, and you can use 4 egg yolks in this recipe if you have plans for 4 egg whites. I started using whole eggs because I got tired of finding two-week-old egg whites in the frig and tossing them. So I put them in the pudding now, and it adds a little extra protein. It also makes the pudding thicker!
