How to Make – Baked Tapioca Pudding with Macadamia Nut Ice Cream
I am always looking for new inspirations for my cooking, so when the Mister proclaimed his adoration for baked tapioca pudding after a dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, I knew I had to recreate this in our own kitchen. Tapioca pudding, with its eggy, smooth custardy finish, is a popular dessert in South East Asia. A starch derived from the cassava root, tapioca is commonly used through South America, Africa and Asia.
I decided to up the “wow” factor by adding a generous scoop of macadamia nut ice cream on top of each molten serving of tapioca pudding, so that the melted ice cream form luscious rivets of sweet cream through the pudding below. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.
What you’ll need (makes 8-9):
- 1/2 tapioca pearls or sago
- 4 tbls custard powder
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups of milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tbls butter
- 1 tbls vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped water chestnuts (optional)
- macadamia or vanilla ice cream
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Pre-heat oven to 200degrees celsius.
Soak the tapioca pearls in a bowl of cool water for 20 minutes. Then, simmer the tapioca in water for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking at the bottom of the pan. Cook the tapioca pearls until each pearl still holds a white centre, meaning that it is not fully cooked. Turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Allow the tapioca to cook in the residual heat for an additional 15 minutes, until each pearl becomes completely translucent.
Meanwhile, roughly dice the fresh water chestnuts.
(Clockwise) In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the milk, 2 eggs and 4 tbls of custard powder. Pour the remaining 1 cup of milk into a pot, along with the vanilla extract, sugar and butter. Simmer over medium high heat and stir until the mixture thickens. Now add in the egg and custard mixture. The mixture will thicken quickly at this point.
Turn the heat off, and pour in the drained tapioca pearls as well as the water chestnuts.
Decant into ramekins and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 20-25 minutes at 200 degrees celsius, until the top has set and turn a blushing caramel colour.
Top off with generous scoops of ice cream. My favourite is macadamia nuts ice cream from Haagen-Dazs. This is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. Dig in!
Bon Appetit!
