I have a huge sweet tooth and am a big dessert fan. At the end of a meal, no matter if it’s a simple salad or 9 course marathon I always have a little room for something sweet. During the summer that sweet treat is often berries with a splash of cream, a quick stone fruit crumble or maybe just some sliced melon. However, as spring and summer change to fall, fresh, easy fruit isn’t as readily available. I have no intention of baking an entire cake for just the two of us and most other desserts require huge amounts of effort. Something I’m not usually ready to take on when we finish dinner around 9:30 or 10 pm. So I look for quick fixes.

The “Most Dangerous Recipe in the World” Chocolate Cake in a Mug is still a huge favorite but sometimes I’m not in the mood for chocolate I want something other than chocolate when there’s no chocolate left, I need to get a bit creative. The other night I was craving vanilla pudding. Not sure where the craving came from, but I knew it was something I needed to have. Generally pudding is made like a custard, heating milk, folding some of the milk into whisked egg yolks, then gently holding the entire mixture over the stove until it becomes thick enough to coat your wooden spoon. Not necessarily a lengthy process but certainly one that needs constant attention. This recipe produces a decent substitute for traditional pudding. A mixture of only four ingredients, it may not be quite the same thing, but you can easily have fresh homemade pudding in front of you in about half an hour with minimal effort.

Easy Eggless Vanilla Pudding (Serves 2)

• 2 c milk
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 4 tsp cornstarch

In a small saucepan bring milk, sugar, vanilla seeds and vanilla bean to a slow boil, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Remove vanilla bean and discard.

In a small bowl combine cornstarch and about 1/2 cup hot milk mixture. Stir well until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture back to saucepan and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly so the cornstarch doesn’t form clumps. Remove from heat and cover surface of pudding with plastic wrap. Cool in an ice bath (a larger bowl filled with ice and water) until lukewarm. Spoon pudding into serving dishes and enjoy.

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