This luscious vanilla pudding is a lesson in why you should use organic milk and eggs in a custard. The USDA’s 2011 decision to deregulate genetically engineered alfalfa raised concerns among organic dairy farmers, who rely on organic alfalfa to feed their herds. Certified organic fare–including milk and eggs–is still your best bet to avoid GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Heck, I even found GMO-free cornstarch to thicken this custard. And, of course, you’ll want to use organic sugar, made from sugar cane to steer clear of sugar made from GE sugar beets.
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This looks delicious! Do you know of any stores that you can buy vanilla beans that don’t cost one million dollars? Everywhere I look they are super expensive, which I suppose is expected. But is there anywhere that I can find them at a reasonable price?
I buy mine at my local co-op by the bean they cost ~1.55 each
Hi, Andrea!
Vanilla beans are a premium ingredient, to be sure, and hard to find as a bargain. But here’s an online outlet that sells the beans individually: http://www.beanilla.com/indonesian-vanilla-bean-organic-p-114.html. (If there’s a spice store in your area, you might also try there to purchase beans individually.) This same site also offers a concentrated vanilla bean paste: http://www.beanilla.com/bourbonmadagascar-vanilla-paste-3fold-p-131.html. A little goes a long way, so the jar would last quite awhile.
You also can get a bit more mileage out of your investment by using the seeds in the recipe, but reserving the pod to flavor sugar or beverages. Or you could use just half a bean, which will give the pudding more subtle vanilla flavor but still be delicious.
And when all else fails, substitute a high-quality vanilla extract (no imitation stuff!). Start by stirring in 1 tablespoon at the end of cooking; taste, and stir in more if you want more intense vanilla flavor.
Hope this helps!
Thank you very much for the suggestions Alison! I will try a couple out and see how it goes! 🙂
Glad I could help. Between you ‘n’ me, if I had a yen for vanilla pudding and some decent vanilla extract in the cupboard, I’d go for it. Not as fancy-schmancy as vanilla bean, but yummy nonetheless. 😉
I just made this this evening, and it’s delicious! I dug two vanilla beans out from the back of the cupboard that were pretty old and hard, but used the scrapings from them anyway & it was super vanilla-beany and delicious! Also used skim milk and it worked well.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe! I’m sure I’ll use it very often!
So glad you liked it, Mandy! Thanks for lettin’ us know!
I really like that you make a point to eat GMO-free. I have two little ones and I am trying so hard to keep genetically altered food out of their diets. I had no idea they sold GMO-free cornstarch though! I have to get some of that!
Good for you, Anita!