Ingredients
- 4 cups milk (1 quart; see note)
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
1. Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a 2 or 3 quart saucepan. Â Gradually whisk in the milk. If the milk is cold, so much the better, cornstarch dissolves most completely in cold liquids. Â Heat the pudding over medium heat. Â You will have to stir it a lot. Â Maybe not constantly, but darn close to it. Â Keep stirring it until it boils. Then count to 60, so that it boils for a full minute. Â The pudding will thicken up considerably as it cooks.
2. Next crack your egg into a cereal bowl. Â Ladle a bit of the hot pudding into the bowl with the egg. Â Stir the egg up pretty fast (so it doesn’t cook in the hot pudding) until it is well incorporated. Then scrape this egg/pudding mixture back into the saucepan. Â Whisk it up smooth. Â Bring the pudding back to a boil and then remove it from the stove. Drop in the butter and measure in the vanilla. Â Stir the butter in until it melts.
NOTE FROM THE ORIGINAL RECIPE CREATOR:
“The egg is not completely necessary to this recipe, but in my opinion, makes it taste a whole lot better. Â Without the egg this pudding just tastes like sweet milk gravy to me. Â With the egg, it has a certain richness which elevates it to something special. Â I serve this sometimes with frozen strawberries, sometimes with chocolate syrup, and sometimes with pound cake. Â It can be used like a custard sauce if you like. Â I find it much easier to make than traditional custard, which is usually thickened only with egg yolks. Â With all of the
distractions from the kids, dogs, cats and Fred, I can only make things which aren’t too intimidating. Â This one definitely fits that category. Â This recipe makes about 8 servings. Â Pour it into small resealable plastic containers if you want to send it in a lunch box.”
from: http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/vanillapudding.htm