Crème à la vanille (vanilla pudding)

I found my new favorite dessert. The problem when you bake a lot is you quickly realize any dessert worth the try is loaded with butter, eggs and flour. After a while, you can barely stand the sight of a stick of butter. Or maybe it’s just me. The beauty of this crème is that it doesn’t take that much bad stuff to make it. Actually, it mostly takes milk and vanilla, which is what makes it all the more amazing. And it’s so creamy…. without all the crap (pardon my French) that you would find in industrial pudding. Funny I should mention it, because pudding is something else I can barely stand the sight of. It looks so artificial and gross, I never understood why anyone would want to buy it. But now I know: it’s delicious. People, stop buying it, just make it! It’s so easy a (very clever) dog could make it!

You will want to use real vanilla beans for this one, because 1/ this way you’ll even be able to cut back on the sugar, 2/ vanilla beans are awesome. Whenever I open one I feel like I’m opening Pandora’s box, and the black powder is like dark glitter lighting my way to greatness. Yeah, my knowledge of mythology is a bit shaky.

Bonus? It takes all of 10 minutes to prepare, you can make 100 if you will, pop them in the fridge for a couple hours, and then proceed to make 100 people happy. Not a bad way to make the most of Sunday.

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Prep time: 30 minutes + 2 hours chill time
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yields 4-5 puddings 

Ingredients:

- 2 vanilla beans
- 2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup sugar
-  2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Split the vanilla beans open lengthwise, then add them to the cold milk. Chill for at least 30 minutes to let the vanilla infuse.

2. Discard the vanilla beans. In a saucepan, bring to a boil 3/4 of the milk,  the sugar, and  the vanilla extract.

3. In the meantime, mix together the rest of the milk, egg yolk and cornstarch in a bowl. When the milk mixture boils, add the cornstarch mixture to the pan, stir, and remove from heat as soon as it starts boiling again. Pour in individual containers right away, let cool, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve chilled.

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My tips:

- Step 1 is optional, but it gives the crème a more authentic taste.
- You can sprinkle chocolate shavings or cinammon on top, or serve with whipped cream.
- The recipe is easily doubled.

Source: slightly adapted from Marmiton 

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