Category Archives: pudding

Eggnog Pudding

It may be December 23rd, and I may be writing this post at the airport, but can we take a moment to acknowledge that this is my third blog post in the last five days?

Three blog posts in a week? Who am I?!

Someone who loves Eggnog Pudding, that’s who. You could not pay me to drink a glass of eggnog (liquid dairy skeeves me out), but thicken it to a spoonable consistency and add a little spice and I’m in.

So in, in fact, that I made two batches of this Eggnog Pudding back to back. With only about 15 minutes of actual work, this holiday recipe is an absolute breeze.

Once cool, Eggnog Pudding is pretty irresistible. Cold, creamy and just set—it has all the best parts of eggnog, but with a spoonable texture.

Oh yeah, and whipped cream. Always whipped cream.

Happy holidays! Wishing you and yours a safe and happy end to 2023 and every good thing in 2024.

Eggnog Pudding
makes 4 servings

2 large egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 1/2 cups eggnog
1/4 cup milk of choice (I used whole)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

For serving (optional):
whipped cream
sprinkle of cinnamon and/or nutmeg

Place a wire mesh sieve over a medium heatproof bowl. Set aside.

Whisk egg yolks together in a small heatproof bowl. Set near the stove.

In a medium heavy-bottomed pot, whisk together sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cornstarch, and salt. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk the eggnog into the dry ingredients. Whisk in milk. Place pot over medium heat. Continue to whisk until the mixture boils for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to low.

Remove 1/3 of the warm mixture from the pot. Whisking constantly, slowly pour mixture into the egg yolks until completely combined. Add egg yolk mixture to the pot and turn heat back up to medium. Continue to whisk until mixture boils for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and butter.

Pour pudding through the wire mesh sieve, using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to coax it along. Discard anything caught in the sieve (egg bits).

Divide pudding into four small heatproof serving dishes (I used 4 ounce mason jars). Press plastic wrap to the surfaces. Refrigerate for a few hours, until cold.

When ready to serve pudding, peel off and discard plastic wrap. Lightly stir pudding, top with whipped cream, cinnamon and/or nutmeg (if desired) and serve.

Leftover pudding will keep covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Banana Pudding Cookie Cake

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By now, you all know I love a cookie cake. I mean, what’s not to love about a giant shareable cookie with a frosted edge?!

I’ve made all the classic flavors at this point: chocolate chip, double chocolate, red velvet, Funfetti. They are all wonderful, but sometimes I want a cookie cake that’s a little more…niche. Like one that tastes exactly like the signature banana pudding cookies from my favorite bakery in New York City.

As Shakespeare said, specificity is the soul of good baking. Or something like that.

You may notice that there isn’t any boxed pudding mix in this banana pudding dessert. Instead, the dough contains the three primary ingredients in instant pudding mix: sugar, cornstarch, and powdered milk. When combined with the banana, vanilla, and white chocolate, they perfectly mimic the flavor of classic banana pudding.

This Banana Pudding Cookie Cake is a dreamy dessert year-round, but is somehow especially good in summer. I mean, think about it. Banana pudding is a classic summertime dessert, right? Well, take all that banana-vanilla loveliness, add some white chocolate chips, and bake it into a giant cookie. Finish it off with a vanilla buttercream border, then slice it up and prepare to be both shocked and delighted that it tastes *exactly* like the best cookies in NYC…which taste *exactly* like banana pudding.

Banana Pudding Cookie Cake
makes 1 9-inch round cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup non-fat dry milk powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted & cooled slightly
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
~1 1/2 medium very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1/2 cup)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips + more for topping

For decoration:
Vanilla Buttercream (recipe below)
white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with butter. Line the bottom with parchment and grease again. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, non-fat dry milk powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together melted butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Whisk in egg, followed by mashed banana and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients, then fold in 1 cup white chocolate chips. Transfer dough to prepared pan and spread into one even layer. Bake 28-30 minutes, or until the top is no longer jiggly & a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs (not batter). Top with more white chocolate chips for aesthetics, if desired.

Let cookie cake cool completely in the pan on a rack. Run a small, thin knife around the edge of the pan before inverting the cake onto the rack. Revert onto a serving plate. Decorate with Vanilla Buttercream and sprinkles as desired.

Decorated cake will keep at room temperature for up to two days, or in the refrigerator for up to five.

Vanilla Buttercream
makes enough for 2 dozen cookie cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups confectioner's sugar
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream

In a medium-large mixing bowl, beat butter until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in confectioner's sugar in two installments, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Beat in salt, followed by vanilla. Add heavy cream by the tablespoon until desired consistency is reached.

How to pipe: Stand a piping bag fitted with a coupler and star tip in a tall cup and fold any bag overhang over the outside. Use a silicone spatula or spoon to “load” 1/3-1/2 of the buttercream into the bag. Unfold bag overhang and lift piping bag out the cup.

Press frosting toward the tip. Twist bag overhang closed and hold tight between your thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand, letting the main portion of the bag be held by your palm and remaining fingers. Use your non-dominant hand to tap the bag a couple of times to dislodge any air bubbles. Pipe a dab or two of frosting onto a surface or small plate, just to get the buttercream going in the right direction.

Pipe a buttercream border onto the cookie cake, refilling the bag if/when necessary.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding

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Last week, while preparing vegan red beans & rice on a vacation Wednesday morning, it occurred to me that I haven’t made a straight-up chocolate dessert in a while. Like, maybe since June? I don’t even know. I was in a summer produce fugue state.

Once I realized this, I knew I had to rectify it immediately—a chocolate craving cannot be remedied with anything else. Thinking through our island pantry, I realized I had everything for a quick vegan chocolate pudding. Ten minutes of measuring and whisking later, I was dividing warm pudding into ancient Corelle teacups and setting them in the refrigerator for that night—a perfect make-ahead dessert to go with our make-ahead dinner.

Flash forward a week and I have made Vegan Chocolate Pudding twice in my NYC kitchen since I’ve returned. Its ingredients are things I always have on hand—cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar, almond milk, dark chocolate, vanilla, salt, and (optional) vegan butter. It takes just minutes to put together and doesn’t require sieving as it doesn’t contain eggs. Score!

This Vegan Chocolate Pudding is SO good, y’all. Each spoonful is deeply chocolaty, ice cold, silky smooth, and delicious. I may or may not have eaten it for breakfast this week. Twice.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding
makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons granulated sugar 
1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder 
pinch of Kosher or sea salt 
2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or other plant milk)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon vegan butter (optional, but recommended)
grated chocolate, for serving (optional)

In a medium pot, whisk together cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Whisk in half the almond milk, followed by the remainder.

Place pot over medium heat. Whisking continuously throughout cooking, cook pudding until it has boiled for 1 minute. This process should take 6-8 minutes from start to finish.

Remove pot from heat and whisk in vanilla, followed by dark chocolate and vegan butter (if using).

Divide pudding into four small heatproof serving dishes (I used 4-ounce mason jars). Press plastic wrap to the surfaces. Refrigerate for a few hours, until cold.

When ready to serve pudding, peel off and discard plastic wrap. Lightly stir pudding, top with grated chocolate (if desired), and serve.

Leftover pudding will keep covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Friday Favorites: No-Bake Recipes II

Let’s Make a Wedding Cake, Vol. 1: Caramel Pudding

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For Let’s Make a Wedding Cake, Vol. 2, click here. For Vol. 3, click here.

Caramel Pudding If you’ve been on my social media in the past few days, you know I’ve been busy lately. Aside from working and blogging and petting dogs and being a person in New York City, I’m making a wedding cake! Let’s Make a Wedding Cake, Vol. 1 One of my nearest and dearest friends is getting married on Sunday, and asked yours truly to make a big, beautiful cake for her and her dream man. I said yes—it was a proposal this baker couldn’t refuse. Of course, July 15, 2018, seemed very far away when I agreed to this last summer. In fact, it didn’t start feeling imminent until May, when she and future hubs planned a trip home to NYC to make some final arrangements, including a cake tasting. Let’s Make a Wedding Cake, Vol. 1 Cut to June 4th when I showed up to the bride’s mother’s apartment with three little layer cakes: all vanilla, two with traditional Swiss Meringue Buttercream, one with Seafoam (brown sugar) Swiss Meringue Buttercream, two with mocha filling (the bride’s request), and one with caramel (the groom’s favorite). I wasn’t too confident, not because I didn’t think the cakes would taste good, but because this isn’t just any ol’ cake, you know? Let’s Make a Wedding Cake, Vol. 1 The original plan was that they would choose one filling and one frosting and that would be that. About five minutes into the tasting we were all in agreement—vanilla, mocha, and bright-white Swiss Meringue Buttercream. But that was before the mother of the bride randomly stacked a bite of the caramel-filled cake on top of a bite of the mocha-filled cake and then insisted the rest of us do the same. Just like my friend and her betrothed, each filling was fine on its own, but they were better together—the combination of chocolate, espresso, and dark caramel is divine. And so, it stands that this cake will be vanilla layers with Swiss Meringue Buttercream and alternating mocha and caramel fillings. Let’s Make a Wedding Cake, Vol. 1 Since this cake has to be made, transported, and assembled in the middle of a hot, humid NYC July, I had to take melting into consideration when developing the recipe(s). Traditional American Buttercream (butter + confectioners sugar + vanilla + heavy cream, AKA most of the frostings on this site) was out as a filling/frosting option—too prone to melting. Instead, the fillings and frosting are all at least partially egg-based. Eggs are textural and structural powerhouses in cooking and baking, and most importantly, they don’t melt. Caramel Pudding The frosting, which I’ll write more about on Friday, is made from egg whites, while the fillings are made with the yolks. The mocha filling is simply my chocolate pudding with a tablespoon of espresso granules added to the dry ingredients—easy peasy. I’ve already gone on and on about its richness and depth, and used it as a cake filling.Today is all about the caramel filling—this rich, silky, insanely delicious pudding that is practically like eating a little bowl of pure caramel! So freaking good.Caramel Pudding is a streamlined spin on the Butterscotch Cream Pie filling I made last fall. It’s super quick and easy to make, coming together in just 15 minutes on the stovetop. You may absolutely enjoy it without any accoutrements, but I especially love it with whipped cream and a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce. Caramel Pudding And, of course, it also works well as a cake filling, if whispers of dark caramel between layers of buttery vanilla cake are a thing you’re into. Let’s Make a Wedding Cake, Vol. 1 They are definitely a thing I’m into.

Caramel Pudding
makes 4 servings

1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For serving (optional):
whipped cream
caramel sauce

Combine sugar, light corn syrup, apple cider vinegar, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart pot over medium-high heat. Whisking constantly, cook until dark amber, about 7-8 minutes. Do not burn. Whisk in milk. Mixture will bubble violently and caramel may briefly seize, but keep whisking until it has smoothed out and boiled for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Whisk 1/3 of the mixture into the egg yolks. Return egg yolk mixture to pot and place back over medium-high heat. Whisking constantly, bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla and butter.

Push through a sieve to remove lumps. Divide mixture among 4 4-ounce ramekins. Press a piece of plastic wrap to the surfaces. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours, or until cold.

When ready to serve, top with whipped cream and caramel sauce, if desired.

Caramel Pudding will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Let’s Make a Wedding Cake, Vol. 1

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sweets & sass from a baking brooklynite.