If the grocery store isn't your favorite place, it should be. We're sleuthing for the best back-of-the-box recipes and each week we'll share our latest find.
Today: Reinventing tapioca pudding (and adding some whipped cream for good measure).
You finish dinner, and you're in the mood for dessert. You rummage around in the freezer: no ice cream. You ransack the cabinets frantically, but no cookies or forgotten cartons of graham crackers turn up. You're getting desperate. You're about to succumb to the age-old move of eating three handfuls of frozen chocolate chips.
But wait! There is hope, in the form of pudding: fluffy tapioca cream, to be exact. It requires only five ingredients, so you're in business even when your pantry is bare.
I understand that tapioca pudding might not sound very sexy or newsworthy. Being firmly in the pro-mushy food camp (my dream meal is creamy corn grits, a fluffy bowl of hummus, and strawberry soft serve), it is no surprise that I loved, loved, this whipped tapioca cream recipe. But whatever your feelings on pudding, this one is worth trying.
It loosely resembles a basic tapioca pudding, but it's lightened up by a whipped egg white, which you fold into the hot tapioca. Airy and fluffy, it's a creative, sophisticated take on a classic. It's simple, quick, and satisfying. You don't have to top it with a dollop of whipped cream, but really, why wouldn't you?
Fluffy Tapioca Cream
Adapted from Kraft Foods' Minute Brand Tapioca
3 tablespoons instant tapioca
6 tablespoons sugar
1 egg, separated
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Sliced strawberries, for serving (optional)
See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.
Do you have a favorite back of the box recipe, or have you heard about a great one? Leave any suggestions in the comments, and I'll try them out and share them here!
Photos by Posie Harwood
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