Vanilla pudding

Vanilla pudding

1 h
It is time to bring back a true classic with our recipe for vanilla pudding. The creamy and incredibly soft vanilla dessert is served with a warm cherry sauce made from pickled cherries and garnished with fresh lemon balm leaves. A simple and comforting dish loved by kids and adults that only requires some very basic ingredients. Try out this retro dessert!
https://www.arlafoods.co.uk/recipes/vanilla-pudding/

Instructions

  • Soak gelatine leaves in cold water for approx. 10 minutes.
  • Bring milk and a split vanilla pod to a boil.
  • Beat eggs and sugar well.
  • Pour half of the boiling milk into the eggs while whisking.
  • Pour the mixture into the pan with milk and heat it up until the cream becomes smooth – do not boil.
  • Take gelatine leaves out of the water and squeeze them lightly.
  • Add the gelatine to the egg mixture and pick out the vanilla pod.
  • Whip the cream to a light foam and fold it into the pudding when it starts to set.
  • Pour the pudding into a bowl or pudding mould.
  • Refrigerate it for a few hours.
Cherry sauce
  • Heat the pickled cherries and their juice to a boiling point.
  • Remove the pan from the heat.
  • Mix the potato starch with water and add it to the pickled cherries while stirring.
  • Serve the warm cherry sauce with the vanilla pudding.
Enjoy!
Tips

Save time and prepare the vanilla pudding a day before serving. This also allows the pudding more than enough time to set, and you can enjoy a cool and rich pudding for dessert.

Tips

Before removing the pudding from the mould or bowl, let it sit in a big bowl with warm water for about 10 seconds. Remove the bowl or mould and dry it off with a dishtowel. Carefully run a small sharp knife around the edges of the mould or bowl to loosen the pudding. Place a serving plate over the pudding and turn everything over. If the pudding has difficulty releasing, try shaking it gently or reheating again.

Questions about vanilla pudding

Pudding is a delicious creamy soft dessert for the whole family, and with our vanilla pudding recipe, you are in for a treat. Enjoy with a tart-sweet, warm cherry sauce. Read below and find out how to make vanilla pudding and get to know everything about the delicious dessert.

What is vanilla pudding?
Vanilla pudding is a creamy and sweet milk-based dessert set with a thickening agent and made by simmering in a saucepan on top of a stove. Depending on the thickening agent used, for example, eggs, gelatine, or corn starch, they are sometimes referred to as custard, jelly, or blancmange, respectively. Our pudding consists of milk, sugar, eggs, and gelatine to create a soft, sweet, creamy dessert with a firm custard-jelly-like consistency. The vanilla-flavoured treat is an old classic that never goes out of fashion.
How to make vanilla pudding?
Bring milk and vanilla pod to a boil while beating eggs and sugar. Next, pour half of the boiled milk into the egg mixture and whisk. Heat the mixture with the rest of the milk until the cream becomes smooth, remove the vanilla pod, and add the soaked gelatine sheets. Fold whipped cream into the pudding before refrigerating it in a bowl or pudding mould for a few hours. Heat pickled cherries and their juice to a boiling point and stir in potato starch mixed with water. Serve the sauce on top of the vanilla pudding and garnish with fresh lemon balm leaves.
Can you freeze vanilla pudding?
Vanilla pudding made with gelatine does not freeze well as the structure provided by the gelatine is destroyed during freezing. When you defrost the pudding, it can become liquid, and the texture is no longer firm or jiggly. So, we do not recommend trying to freeze vanilla pudding. But if you want to try it, wrap the pudding with cling film or store it in an airtight container and place it in the freezer. Just be aware that it might not work, and you might get a runny, liquid pudding after defrosting it!
What to do with leftover vanilla pudding?
Do you find yourself with any leftovers? Make a banana split trifle with vanilla pudding. Cut a banana into thin slices and place the slices at the bottom of a long dessert glass, followed by layers of pudding and diced strawberries. Repeat until the glass is full and top it off with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. If you want to enjoy the leftovers as is, simply store it in the fridge, covering with cling film directly on the vanilla pudding. This way, it will last for up to a week and you can enjoy it straight from the mould or bowl with a new splash of cherry sauce on top.

Ingredients

Gelatine leaves
7 sheets
Milk
3½ dl
Vanilla pod
½
Eggs
3
Sugar (approx. 1 ½ dl)
125 g
Double cream
3½ dl
Cherry sauce
Jar of pickled cherry (approx. 350 g)
1
Potato starch
2 tsp
Water
2 tsp
Garnish
Fresh lemon balm leaves

Sweet and soft vanilla pudding

Vanilla pudding is such an underrated dessert. The dessert pudding has a wonderfully soft, rich, and creamy texture with a delicate vanilla flavour and sweet, floral undertones. Making a homemade vanilla pudding from scratch only requires very few but simple ingredients such as gelatine and eggs for a creamy thickness and double cream to create a fluffy texture. Serve the sweet treat with a warm cherry sauce and enjoy every bite.

Cherry sauce and toppings for vanilla pudding

This dessert treat is the perfect canvas for a warm cherry sauce and other complementary toppings. For our pudding, we have decided on a delectable cherry sauce made from pickled cherries and the cherry juices, water, and potato starch for added thickness. The stunning sauce has a balanced sweet and tart flavour with a subtle hint of spice. It is the perfect sauce to finish off a creamy pudding all year round and it is tempting to just keep savouring it. But you can easily use different fruits and berries for the sauce, for example, blueberries and blackcurrant or add some crunch with coarsely chopped almonds.

Serve a classic for your guests

Finish the evening in style with a creamy and simple vanilla pudding recipe; the flavours will bring back sweet childhood memories. The combination of a chilled base topped with a stunning and divine warm cherry sauce is to die for. It is a beautiful pairing of sweet and tart that is impossible to resist. With only a handful of ingredients and mouth-watering flavours, it is the perfect dessert to round off a lovely evening. A true classic that will bring joy to your guests, both young and old.

If you are looking for similar creamy desserts but with bold flavours, try our chocolate pudding or chocolate mousse with rich and intense chocolate flavours. Also, check out our recipe for crème brûlée, a delicious French classic, or discover an Italian treasure in the form of a milky, sweet and smooth panna cotta.

Make it your own

Elevate the classic vanilla pudding and play around with different toppings. Top the pudding with a thick homemade caramel for a decadent dessert. Melt sugar and water in a saucepan at low heat. Once it has turned golden brown, mix cornstarch and water and whisk into the caramel until it thickens. Pour the caramel sauce over the pudding and serve with whipped cream. For some added crunch, garnish the pudding with nuts, crushed graham crackers or wafer cookies.

For something fruitier to balance the sweetness of the pudding, try a rhubarb compote with a subtle tart flavour. Slice the rhubarbs into smaller chunks and cook with vanilla bean and sugar at low heat until the rhubarbs are soft and mushy. Blend the compote into a smooth consistency or leave it chunky and top the pudding with the rhubarb compote. It is a divine combination of flavours and textures. If you do not like rhubarb, make a blueberry or pineapple compote instead. You can use any fruit you like.