How To Make Rich and Creamy Pudding From Scratch (2024)

As comfort foods go, you can't get much simpler than sweet, creamy homemade pudding.

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Vanessa Greaves

How To Make Rich and Creamy Pudding From Scratch (1)

Vanessa Greaves is a Senior Editor at Allrecipes with nearly two decades of experience helping home cooks gain confidence in the kitchen. A self-taught cook who grew up reading cookbooks for fun, Vanessa lives and breathes the challenges faced by busy everyday cooks to get dinner on the table.

Updated on September 25, 2020

What Is Pudding?

Pudding, as we know it in the United States, is a cooked, sweet dessert with a soft, creamy, silky texture. It typically contains milk or cream, although there are non-dairy puddings made with plant-based "milk." Pudding is similar to custard in that they both can contain eggs and milk, but pudding is usually thickened with a starch, whereas custard is thickened by the eggs.

Tapioca pudding is made with tapioca starch, which both thickens the pudding and can give it a distinctive texture from the tiny, glutenous tapioca spheres.

Rice pudding is made with rice, which, like tapioca, both thickens the pudding and gives it texture from the cooked rice.

How to Make Pudding

Try this recipe for Homemade Vanilla Pudding

Pudding is usually made on the stovetop by gently cooking the ingredients together until they thicken. The warm pudding is then spooned into individual bowls, covered, and chilled until serving, or it can be used as an ingredient in a dessert that calls for a creamy element, as in Southern banana pudding.

How To Make Rich and Creamy Pudding From Scratch (2)

Get the recipe: Homemade Banana Pudding with Whipped Cream Topping

Tips for Making Pudding

The ingredients that go into pudding can be very simple, but there are a few tips and tricks that will help you achieve the silky smooth pudding texture you crave.

Thickening the Pudding

Puddings are thickened in several ways:

  • Using starch: In order for the starch granules to open up and actively absorb liquid, the mixture needs to come to a boil (1-3 minutes, until it starts to thicken). Stir constantly to prevent the mixture from burning.
  • Using eggs: Eggs add richness to puddings, whether or not the recipe includes additional thickeners. To add eggs to a hot liquid, you need to "temper" them (see Tempering Eggs below) so they don't end up as scrambled eggs.
  • Rice and tapioca also act as thickeners.

How to Temper Eggs for Pudding

If your pudding recipe includes eggs, you need to "temper" them to avoid ending up with bits of cooked scrambled egg in your pudding. Tempering gently raises the temperature of the eggs before adding them to the hot milk mixture.

  1. While the milk and sugar are heating, lightly beat the eggs in a medium mixing bowl.
  2. When the milk comes to a boil, remove it from the heat, and gradually pour about a cup or so of hot milk into the bowl of beaten eggs in a slow, steady stream while whisking the mixture constantly.
  3. Pour the hot milk-and-egg mixture back into the pot, and return it to the stove.
  4. Cook over medium heat, using a wooden spoon to stir.
  5. Unlike with cornstarch puddings, you don't need the egg mixture to boil.
  6. The mixture will thicken slightly, so it looks like very heavy cream. It will coat the back of the spoon; test it by running your finger down the spoon. You should wipe a clear, clean line through the custard.
  7. Remove from heat. The pudding will thicken more as it cools.

Chilling the Pudding

How To Make Rich and Creamy Pudding From Scratch (6)

Try this recipe: Nana's Homemade Chocolate Pudding

Many homemade puddings, like rice pudding and tapioca pudding, are delightful served warm, but many need time to fully set up and thicken. To prevent a skin from forming on the surface while the pudding rests, cover the bowl or ramekins of pudding with plastic wrap or waxed paper. Some cooks like to press the covering down onto the surface of the pudding.

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How To Make Rich and Creamy Pudding From Scratch (2024)

FAQs

What ingredient makes pudding thick? ›

Puddings are thickened in several ways: Using starch: In order for the starch granules to open up and actively absorb liquid, the mixture needs to come to a boil (1-3 minutes, until it starts to thicken). Stir constantly to prevent the mixture from burning.

How to make instant pudding creamier? ›

Whipped cream is light and fluffy, so it'll add creaminess to instant pudding without weighing it down. You can spoon a dollop on top of a bowl of finished pudding, stirring it in or combining it with each bite.

How to make pudding better? ›

Add more flavor

A teaspoon of vanilla extract can add richness to any pudding. A bit of espresso powder can make chocolate puddings taste more chocolaty—add more for a mocha flavor. You can stir in a bit of your favorite liqueur too.

What are the three types of pudding? ›

Baked, steamed, and boiled puddings

These puddings are baked, steamed, or boiled. Depending on its ingredients, such a pudding may be served as a part of the main course or as a dessert.

Does heavy cream make pudding thicker? ›

You can make the whipped pudding thicker or thinner depending on how much heavy whipping cream you add. If you are looking for a thicker consistency (to eat with a spoon, or use as a cake filling), add a little less heavy cream. If you want to use it as a donut filling, use a little more, so that it's easily pipeable.

How do you make pudding thick liquid? ›

Two scoops of Thick and Easy® powder are required to thicken 100 mL of fluid to pudding thick consistency. Add the powder a little at a time, stirring briskly with a fork or small hand whisk. Allow a few minutes for the drink to thicken. Fluids with thickening powder added will become thicker after standing.

What is the thickening agent in instant pudding? ›

A key ingredient in instant pudding is gelatinized starch, a dried instant starch that readily absorbs liquids, which causes the pudding to gel when mixed with milk. Additional ingredients sometimes used as a thickener include gums that are soluble in cold water, such as carrageenans and alginates.

Can you use evaporated milk instead of milk in pudding mix? ›

Tips. You can substitute 3 cups regular milk for evaporated milk if you want to deviate and make regular plain pudding.

How to make pudding smooth? ›

So go for a handheld immersion blender or an electric whisk to smooth out the pudding. Strain:Use a fine-mesh sieve to strain out the undesired lumps for a silky and creamy end result. This should take you a total of 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the quantity you've cooked.

What would be the best thickening ingredient for puddings? ›

Tapioca lends a clear, glossy appearance, but can also skew stringy in water, McGee says, making it a better option for puddings. That tendency for stringiness is another reason tapioca is often sold in pearls that are already partially swollen with water, so that they quickly soften and finish thickening.

Does cornstarch make pudding thick? ›

Pudding Ingredients

Cornstarch: Three tablespoons of cornstarch thickens the vanilla pudding. Salt: A pinch of salt enhances the flavor, but it won't make the pudding taste salty.

How do you keep pudding moist? ›

After you have steamed and cooled your pudding, replace the foil with a freshly buttered piece to keep it moist and store in a cool, dark place, or the fridge, until you are ready to reheat it on Christmas day.

What is pudding made of? ›

pudding, any of several foods whose common characteristic is a relatively soft, spongy, and thick texture. In the United States, puddings are nearly always sweet desserts of milk or fruit juice variously flavoured and thickened with cornstarch, arrowroot, flour, tapioca, rice, bread, or eggs.

What is pudding mix made of? ›

Sugar, a flavoring agent, and thickeners are primary ingredients. Instant chocolate pudding mix is manufactured using cocoa. A key ingredient in instant pudding is gelatinized starch, a dried instant starch that readily absorbs liquids, which causes the pudding to gel when mixed with milk.

What is the raw material for pudding? ›

The milk pudding is a pasty or semi-fluid state milk-contained product, and each 100 weight portions of the milk pudding comprises the following raw materials: 30 to 80 portions of liquid milk raw material, 4 to 20.0 portions of sugar, 0.1 to 5 portions of a stabilizing agent, and the balance being water.

What's the difference between pudding and custard? ›

While most custard and pudding recipes both typically call for eggs, the main difference is that pudding uses a starch for thickening, whereas custard's thickening agent is the egg itself (or egg yolk, in most instances). Custard's texture also tends to be firmer than pudding.

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