Why would you want to thicken pudding?
Pudding is one of the most favorite and common desserts since it’s quite simple to make one.
It is rich in flavor and has a cool and silky-soft texture that makes it hard to resist biting a piece of pudding maybe just because of its lovely appearance.
There are countless recipes to cook pudding but even you follow the directions, sometimes the result is still not as expectation- a runny pudding.
Can you thicken pudding?
So now the question is how can we make a perfect consistency of pudding or salvage a mess of watery pudding?
Whereas there are numerous ways to cook pudding, there are also several methods to fix a pudding that doesn’t firm up.
Depending on your preferences and available ingredients at your kitchen, just choose the most proper way for your own.
Now, let’s take a look at some advice below and the step-by-step instruction to confidently complete your dish.
Tips to thicken pudding
- Just try popping your runny pudding in a fridge first and leave it overnight. The chilling time and cold temperature might help to firm up your pudding
- Always stir the mixture gently and avoid beating so much air into the pudding, that’s why a spoon in this way is more preferred than a whisk
- The ratio of whole eggs and egg yolks in a custard will vary, depending on your recipe. Extra yolks make a richer, softer custard, while whole eggs make it firmer
- Be sure you’ve purchased rice starch, rather than rice flour. Rice flour can be rather coarse and isn’t an especially effective thickener, while rice starch is both a powerful thickening agent and the finest-textured of them all
Things you’ll need
- A stove top
- A saucepan, a bowl or some individual cups or dishes
- A strainer, a spoon
- Milk and cream
- Thickener such as flour or cornstarch,…
- Butter, vanilla
- Gelatin
How to thicken pudding custards, or Egg-thickened puddings
- Heat your milk and cream in a saucepan over low heat
- Beat your eggs and extra egg yolks into sugar by a spoon
- Pour ¼ or 1/3 the mixture in the saucepan into your egg beaten egg in a thin stream and stir constantly
- Pour and stir at a time this warm mixture to the saucepan of milk and cream in a thin stream
- Heat the custard gently over low heat and stir occasionally until it thickens
- Remove the custard from the stovetop and stir in a small piece of butter and vanilla
- Pour the mixture through a strainer to remove any lumps of cooked egg (remember to get a bowl or dish ready below to contain the custard
How to thicken pudding starch-thickened puddings
- Heat your milk and cream in a saucepan over medium heat (keep back ¼ to 1/3 of the total, leaving it cold)
- Combine your recipe’s sugar with a starch-based thickening agent, such as cornstarch, flour or arrowroot powder
- Whisk the cold portion of the milk into your starch-and-sugar mixture until it’s thoroughly dissolved
- Pour the cold mixture into your hot milk in a thin stream, whisking until it’s fully incorporated
- Cook the pudding over low heat until it thickens completely
- Remove the pan from the heat and strain the hot pudding into a large bowl or individual serving cups, leaving any lumps in the strainer
How to thicken pudding set with gelatin
- Whisk the sugar together with the milk and cream in a large bowl or pan
- Put the bowl to a simmer on the stovetop
- Measure 3/4 tsp. of unflavored gelatin powder for every cup of liquid in your pudding
- Stir the mixture of one part of gelatin with two or three parts of cold water and chill it for three to five minutes
- Melt the gelatin over a cup of hot water (or microwave for about 15 seconds)
- Pour the melted gelatin into your pudding mixture in a fine stream, stirring steadily until the gelatin is thoroughly diffused throughout the mixture
- Remove the pudding from the heat
- Strain the pudding into a single large mold or smaller individual serving dishes to remove any stray lumps
- Let it chill for a few minutes before serving
