Raise your hand if you don’t love maple walnut ice cream???? Who doesn’t love anything maple? It’s one of my favorite ice creams of all time…yummmmm! And maple is one of those all time ‘comfort’ flavors, instantly bringing to mind happy visions of pancake breakfasts, or french toast…or ice cream cones!
I thought I had hit upon a BRILLIANT idea to make maple tapioca. I am a long time proponent of tapioca pudding, being a fast, easy dessert which I consider a delicious way to get my calcium nutrients since I am not a dairy lover. It’s 5 basic ingredients are always on hand. And it’s a great way to use up milk before it’s expiration date.
So, in August, when my daughter Lindsay and I visited Vermont’s historic King Arthur Flour factory in Norwich and browsed their beautifully well-stocked baking store….I happened across a teeny bottle of natural maple flavor and immediately began concocting recipes I could use it in. Of course, maple tapioca came to mind and since I’d never heard of it before, I had the audacity to think I had invented a new dessert!
Knowing that maple syrup can be substituted for sugar 1:1…. I used the recipe on Kraft’s Minute Tapioca box, replaced the sugar with maple syrup and at the end of the cooking, substituted my new natural maple flavoring instead of vanilla extract. I patiently refrigerated the pudding, anxious to taste it.
Absolutely delish! It’s so reminiscent of maple walnut ice cream…just without the frozen factor and minus the walnuts. I took care of the nuts by embellishing each serving with a sprinkling of my favorite granola by Golden Girl Granola, “Forest Maple” which can be found at Whole Foods stores and incorporates toasted maple oats and almonds.
So after cooking it, letting it set, photographing and finally tasting it…I finally decided to do an internet search for maple tapioca….hahahaha only to find there are numerous recipes already out there….<sigh> oh well…it was a delicious idea, just not original. No harm…no foul. I still love my easy recipe, which I will share now.
MAPLE TAPIOCA
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup real maple syrup, Grade A Dark Amber or B for more intense flavor
- 3 tablespoons Minute Tapioca
- 2 3/4 cups milk
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 egg, well beaten
- l teaspoon natural maple flavor by Boyajian
In a 3 qt sauce pan, mix maple syrup, milk, salt, tapioca and egg with a wire whisk and let sit for 5 minutes.
Cook on medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a full boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred). Immediately turn off heat and remove from the burner. Stir in maple flavor.
Pour into a heat-proof container which you can cover and refrigerate after 20 minutes when cooled.
Tapioca can be served warm or cold. I prefer mine cold. Sprinkle generously with your favorite nuts or granola.
