Sunday, February 25, 2018

Grandma Gladys's Vanilla Cornstarch Pudding on the Wood Cookstove

This recipe comes from Grandma Gladys, who was one of my maternal great-grandmothers.  She passed away two months before I was born, but my recipe box has several of her mainstay menu items in it, and I think this is one of the best.  I know that boxed pudding mixes are cheap and extremely easy, but this really is such a simple recipe, and cooking on a wood cookstove makes me want to make things from scratch as often as possible.

You will need the following ingredients:


3 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups milk, divided
3 Tblsp. cornstarch
2 Tblsp. butter
dash salt (optional)
vanilla flavoring

First, beat the egg yolks and the sugar in a heavy saucepan.  I always use my three-quart Magnalite aluminum one.


Add the rest of the ingredients except for the vanilla and bring to a boil directly over the firebox, stirring constantly.


The pudding will thicken immediately upon boiling.  At that point, remove from the fire and add a splash of vanilla.  


That's it!  It is that easy, and it tastes so much better than instant pudding that the two are not even comparable.

Sometimes I've seen recipes like this that say "discard the whites" after telling you to separate the eggs.  That makes me crazy because it is such a waste of food.  When I make this pudding, I always fry the egg whites for my breakfast the next morning.  I like fried eggs, but I love fried egg whites.

2 comments:

  1. Or you can put the whole egg, all three of them, in your pudding, Jim. It won't be quite as yellow but will taste the same. My husband and his brothers used to call homemade pudding gully-gully. I have no idea why. His mom used to fry raw, shredded potatoes and make gully-gully, which they poured over the fried potatoes, still warm. Our own children liked this meal, too. But now, we would think it was a double whammy of carbs and not enough protein, although all those eggs would certainly help. I'm going to make your pudding this way soon so that next time we go to the cabin I'll have it down pat for cooking over the cook stove.

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    1. I was wondering about that, Arla, and had resolved to try it next time to see how it would work. Thanks for letting me know.

      I would have never dreamed of putting pudding over fried potatoes. I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around that one!

      Hope the wedding planning is coming along nicely. Your recent description of Elv's breakfasts at the cabin made me hungry when I read them. I really enjoy your blog!

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