Café Au Lait Pudding

Yesterday I read Ree's list of Ten Important Things About Blogging and one of the things she recommended was to tell people who visit and read your blog that you love them.

So I figured our relationship had gotten to that point where I should tell you. And though it feels a bit awkward to be the first to say it--I don't care. Sometimes you gotta be the first to say it, ya know? Almost like ripping a band-aid off of a hairy arm.

So here it is: I love you. For reals.

I think it's pretty amazing how you come here each day, or every other day or even once a month, to check out what's cooking, and what random things are being said.

I love this blog so dang much. Mainly because it gives me an excuse to cook things I never would otherwise. In this case, it's pushed me to the point where I no longer suck at making pudding.

A few years ago I tried to make this pudding--it turned into a lumpy, gross mess. There's kinda nothing more gag worthy than eating lumpy pudding. Ugh. After that, I sorta gave up on making puddings, thinking they just weren't for me...

Until I came across this Cafe Au Lait Pudding, and even though the reviews were grim, I couldn't get the recipe out of my head. Which shouldn't have been that surprising since a little while back I ate these Mocha Popsicles for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Coffee. Milk. Whipped cream. Cinnamon. Basically a latte in pudding form. What's seriously not to love?

So I shrugged the bad reviews off, determined to make the pudding work.

I started with deciding to cut down the amount of instant espresso (since everyone complained about it being too strong), adding a teaspoon of cocoa powder, some vanilla extract and upping the amount of sugar.

And then an hour later I was met with pure pudding success. Finally. I made a pudding that was not only edible but seriously awesome.

Cafe Au Lait Pudding

Recipe adapted from Gourmet

Print this recipe!

If you like things on the sweeter side, I'd advise upping the sugar to ½ cup. If not, then stick with the ¼ cup sugar.

2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules

1 teaspoon of Dutch processed cocoa powder

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoon cornstarch

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoon sugar, divided

½ cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, divided

Cinnamon for sprinkling

Do a little prep action by making your ice bath first. Grab two metal or glass bowls, one slightly smaller than the other. Fill the larger bowl with ice and a bit of water and place the smaller bowl inside it.

Whisk together milk, coffee granules, cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract, cornstarch, ¼ cup sugar (or ½ cup of sugar--your choice), and a small pinch of salt in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, then boil 1 minute, whisking constantly.

Adrianna Note: Be sure to scrap the corners of the pot with your whisk to ensure all the cornstarch is properly combined.

Transfer the pudding to the smaller bowl in your ice bath so it can cool, stirring often, about 10 minutes. If there are lumps in the pudding, simply run it through a sieve or strainer. Then pour the pudding into cups or ramekins and chill for 20 minutes. Since I really despise any skin on my pudding, I placed a piece of Saran wrap on the surface to stop that from happening. If you're a freak and love it, then by all means keep it uncovered.

While the pudding is chilling, beat cream with ½ teaspoon of vanilla and remaining 2 tablespoon sugar using an electric mixer just until soft peaks form. Spoon whipped cream onto puddings and dust cream lightly with cinnamon.

If you keep the pudding in the fridge overnight or even for a few hours, I'd take it out of the fridge 15 minutes before serving. I found the consistency was the best when it wasn't super cold. Enjoy!