Recipe: Pudding de Maizena, or Cornstarch Pudding
I’m starting off the new year in a way that most people don’t: stuffing my face with sweets. If you’re like me and your new year does not equal a new you, aka you eat and not work out as much as you ever did, then this post is for you (or you can save it for when you’re back on the sweets train). My latest grandmother’s recipe that I’ve tried out in the Kreyol Kitchen is something I’d never heard of before – pudding de maizena, or cornstarch pudding. Trust me when I say the recipe is easy and the end result is tasty.
This reads like a typical pudding, i.e. a thickened dairy dessert. But, since my grandmother’s measurements don’t equate to what I can find in U.S. grocery stores compared to what she was used to in Haiti a long time ago, I had to guess on a few things. I made this recipe twice since the first time didn’t turn out so well. The following is the list of ingredients and directions that worked for me the second time.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2 cans of evaporated milk
- Lemon zest
- Sugar, to taste
- 1 bar of butter
- 2 egg yolks
- Vanilla essence
- Creme fraiche or small amount of sour cream (you can make creme fraiche 24 hours beforehand or, like me, cheat by using sour cream)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Caramelize a baking dish (I used this recipe).
- Prep all the ingredients beforehand since this recipe involves a lot of constant stirring:
- Beat the egg yolks.
- Zest a lemon.
- Pour most of the evaporated milk into a pot on the stove and bring it to a boil.
- Thin the cornstarch in the rest of the evaporated milk in a separate bowl.
- Take the milk off the fire and add the cornstarch and remaining milk, stirring constantly, and, still stirring, put the mixture back on the fire until it thickens. Keep stirring.
- KEEP STIRRING!!
- Remove the mixture from the fire after it has thickened.
- Add beaten egg yolks, butter, creme fraiche, lemon zest, a drop of vanilla, and sugar to taste.
- Put the mixture back over the fire while still stirring it.
- When the mixture has thickened again, pour it into the caramelized baking dish.
- Place in the oven until it gets color.
- Refrigerate until it cools into a pudding.
See? Super simple, right? I am pretty sure it’s impossible to get a good photo of pudding or similar desserts since it doesn’t retain its shape once you’ve cut or spooned into it, but here is a photo of my first taste of this cornstarch pudding and it was so good!
So, be like me, just say no to dieting, and try this cornstarch pudding. Or, if you insist on starting the new year healthy, at least Pin/bookmark/save this recipe for a later date. To see other sweet treats from the Kreyol Kitchen, check out mocha pudding, economic cake, and a Haitian rum cocktail.
