G.G.'s Tapioca Pudding

  Tapioca pudding brings the memories flooding back!  It has always been a staple at Christmastime.  I have made this a few times in the past and I have not been able to get it perfect yet.  Today, it was just about perfect!  I thought I had messed it up again because it did set up, but when you scoop out a serving, the rest of the pudding filled in the hole.  I asked my uncle about that and he informed me that is how it is supposed to be. Last year, I don't know what went wrong, but it never set up.  This time, I paid close attention to the instructions and it actually worked!

As you can see above, the recipe is a bit all over the place.  Some of it is left up to interpretation.  Here is what I did:

3/4 Cup        Tapioca (I used 1 cup because I do what I want.)
3 Cups          Milk (Whole Milk is recommended)
1/4 Cup         Cornstarch
3/4 Cup         Sugar
2                   Whole Eggs
3                    Egg Yolks
4 Cups           Milk
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

- In a double boiler, cook tapioca in 3 Cups milk until transparent.  Cooking time can vary depending on what type of tapioca you use.  I used Minute Tapioca this time.  It was ready in...well...minutes.  Traditionally, GG used to use the biggest tapioca balls she could find.  That is how I prefer it too.  This process can take more like 30-45 minutes or more.

- In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch and sugar together.  Add 2 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks.  Beat slightly.

- Add another 4 cups milk to the tapioca. Slowly add the egg mixture to the tapioca while stirring constantly.

- Keep stirring constantly!  Cook on medium heat until the foam on the surface disappears.  This took about 20 minutes for me.  Take care not to let it get too hot.  You don't want scrambled eggs in your pudding!

- Remove from heat and add 1 Tablespoon vanilla.

- Pour into 9x13 pan and cool completely.  Depending on how you plan to serve the pudding, you can put it into a 9x13 pan (which was filled to the brim!)  or you can pour into individual serving bowls and chill that way.

- Once it is completely cool and set, cover with meringue.  I chose not to cover with Meringue this time around and it still came out pretty tasty!

**Fun Fact** Unrelated to the making of this recipe, if you look closely, you will see "Genevieve" written on the original recipe.  As most of you know, we are expecting our second child this May and if it were going to be a girl, Genevieve was going to be part of her name.  We had decided this before I noticed Genevieve written in my G.G.'s handwriting on this recipe.  You can imagine our surprise when we discovered this!  I took it as a sign from Spirit that we were on the right track.  :)  Turns out this baby is a Boy, but it is still a fun story anyway!