How long does it take for pudding to set?

Set the bowl, uncovered, in the refrigerator. After 15 minutes, cover the pudding with a sheet of plastic wrap pressed against the surface and refrigerate until fully thickened, about 2 hours . To serve: Whip the thickened pudding with a hand or stand mixer for a full minute to restore its creamy texture.

What makes something a pudding?

In the United States, puddings are nearly always sweet desserts of milk or fruit juice variously flavoured and thickened with cornstarch, arrowroot, flour, tapioca, rice, bread, or eggs . The rarer savoury puddings are thickened vegetable purées, soufflé-like dishes, or, like corn pudding, custards.

What happens when you cook pudding too long?

Steaming a smaller pudding for longer is not going to spoil it . We have steamed 1lb puddings for 8 hours many times. If the foil and parchment hasn't split, again your pudding will not be spoilt. Let your pudding go completely cold then you can remove the covering and put on new parchment and foil ready for the day.

Why add eggs to pudding?

Thickening the Pudding Using eggs: Eggs add richness to puddings, whether or not the recipe includes additional thickeners . To add eggs to a hot liquid, you need to "temper" them (see Tempering Eggs below) so they don't end up as scrambled eggs. Rice and tapioca also act as thickeners.

Why do you put eggs in pudding?

The eggs in the pudding provide some moisture, as well as acting as binding agents . Eggs can also make the pudding a little bit lighter and the main risk is that without eggs the pudding could be a little rubbery in texture.

Do eggs help thicken pudding?

In puddings and custards, eggs are a thickener , making your dish creamy and thick without chalkiness. Cornstarch might be one of the best replacements for egg yolks in puddings, mostly because you likely already have it in your arsenal, and it's cost-effective since it doesn't take very much.

How long does it take for pudding to thicken?

Your pudding has to thicken SLOWLY. This is where you need a little patience. It's going to take about 10 minutes on low heat for the pudding to start to thicken and come up to a boil while you whisk. Turning the heat up to speed the process won't help.

How long does it take pudding mix to thicken?

To make pudding: Combine 2 cups of milk with ½ cup of the instant pudding mix in a medium saucepan over high heat, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, and then immediately reduce the heat to a simmer and continue whisking until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon ( about 3 to 5 minutes ).

Will my pudding thicken when it cools?

Remove from heat. The pudding will thicken more as it cools .

Eggless Chocolate-Banana Biscuit Pudding Recipe

You don’t need to be a baker to make this Eggless Chocolate Banana Biscuit Pudding recipe because it is a super simple, no fuss dessert recipe that you should definitely make for your dad this Father’s day! I promise he will love it.

If you are just starting out with making desserts, this chocolate pudding recipe is perfect for your first experience! It has all the beauty that comes from chocolate, bananas, and some coffee dunked biscuits.

Difference between pudding and custard

I know that these two terms- puddings and custard can be a little confusing, especially when they are used interchangeably all the time. The reason this happens is because there is no stark difference between the two. A pudding is slightly lighter and not as firm as a custard. If you want a more stable filling that can hold its shape better, a custard would be a better choice. But if you want something that you want to just layer, spoon up, and eat, then I would say pudding is a better fit.

Ingredients for any pudding recipe

Initially, puddings were popular as both, sweet and savory dishes. But now we associate pudding directly with being a sweet dish. Puddings will always have milk and sugar as its base along with some thickening agent. These thickening agents are what help give the pudding its structure and consistency.

The most common thickening agent is eggs. Since we are making an eggless pudding, I used cornstarch. A lot of people wonder whether cornstarch and cornflour are the same thing, and the answer is yes. Another common thickening agent is gelatine. This can be a little tricky to find in your local stores and that is why I am choosing not to use it. Cornflour is easily available and it works beautifully in all desserts.

In addition to the base and the thickening agents, you will add a flavoring. The most popular flavors out there are chocolate pudding and banana pudding. You can really add whatever you want once you have your pudding base ready.

What is the ideal texture of a pudding?

A pudding is supposed to be extremely smooth and creamy. This is why it becomes important for you to make sure there are no lumps in your mixture while you are cooking the pudding base.

Pudding recipe variations

Now there are a gazillion pudding recipes out there which has also led to creation of different kinds of pudding.

Biscuit pudding

My personal favorite is a biscuit pudding and that is why I am sharing my recipe for this Eggless Chocolate Banana Biscuit Pudding. A biscuit pudding basically means one that will have layers of biscuits and pudding. You can use any biscuit you have or want to use. Soaking them in desired flavor syrup is always a good idea. It adds a great amount of flavor. For this pudding, I soaked some digestive biscuits in a coffee syrup.

Bread pudding

Bread pudding is actually made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter, and a variety of other ingredients. I came up with a very similar pudding recipe once but instead of stale bread, I used croissants and boy was it one of the best decisions ever! You can check out the full croissant pudding recipe on my website and I promise you, you will fall head over heels for it!

Apart from some decadent dessert pudding recipes, breakfast puddings are also famous all around the world. I should know, since chia seed pudding is one of my absolute favorite breakfasts and I eat it almost everyday!

Of course breakfast puddings are slightly different but they still have a milk base, whether it be animal milk or plant based milk. And there is also a healthy thickening agent, chia seeds, for example. If you want to try some breakfast pudding recipes, you can see some of my favorite from my blog! Eggless Sago Mango Pudding, Chia Seed Pudding with Almond Milk Option, and my personal favorite, Mango Chia Seed Pudding.

Tips to keep in mind while making pudding

Making pudding requires you to cook your milk with a thickening agent. I have used cornflour in my recipe. It is very important to make sure to mix in the cornflour really well so that there are no lumps in your milk mixture.
While adding cocoa powder into the mixture, you need to again be careful to mix it in really well. Cocoa powder whenever added into liquid always makes some lumps. If you want a smooth pudding, make sure to mix in cocoa powder really well.
While cooking down the pudding mixture, make sure to cover it with cling wrap, touching the surface of the pudding so that no film can form over it.
In order to get the best flavor, it is important to soak in the biscuits in the coffee mixture well.
Once your pudding has been layered, ideally you should let it rest for 6-8 hours to ensure the best flavors and look. But if you cannot wait for so long, letting it set in the refrigerator for a few hours will also do.

I hope you make this for your dad on father’s day and give him one of the best treats ever! And when you do, don’t forget to share images with me on my Instagram @shivesh17.

Eggless Chocolate-Banana Biscuit Pudding Recipe - Bake with Shivesh (2024)