Small-Pearl Tapioca Pudding

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The diner-counter classic done properly at home: small pearl tapioca soaked until translucent, then simmered gently into a real egg custard. The whole trick is tempering — you stream hot milk into the sweetened eggs before they go back to the heat, so you get a thick, glossy pudding studded with tender pearls instead of sweet scrambled eggs. Serve warm with a dusting of nutmeg, or chilled with a spoonful of whipped cream.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup small pearl tapioca (not instant or minute tapioca)
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

• freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 cup cold heavy cream, whipped (optional)
• lightly packed brown sugar or berry jam, for topping (optional)

Instructions

1. Put the tapioca in a medium bowl, cover with 1 cup of the milk, and let it soak at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. The pearls will swell and turn from chalky white to slightly translucent at the edges — this pre-soak is what keeps them from staying crunchy in the finished pudding.
2. Pour the soaked tapioca and its milk into a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Add the remaining 2 cups milk, the 1/2 cup heavy cream, the salt, and 1/4 cup of the sugar (reserve the other 1/4 cup for the eggs). Stir to combine.
3. Set over medium-low heat and bring to a bare simmer, stirring often with a silicone spatula and scraping the bottom corners of the pan. This should take 10 to 12 minutes; do not rush it over high heat or the milk will scorch.
4. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring every 30 seconds or so, for 12 to 15 minutes, until the pearls are fully translucent with no white center and the milk has thickened to the consistency of thin cream. Nudge a pearl against the side of the pan — it should squash easily.
5. While the tapioca cooks, whisk the 2 eggs with the reserved 1/4 cup sugar in a medium heatproof bowl until smooth, pale, and slightly foamy, about 30 seconds. Set the bowl on a damp kitchen towel so it won't slide around.
6. Temper the eggs: with the pan off the heat, ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot tapioca mixture into the eggs while whisking constantly and vigorously. Repeat with two more 1/2-cup ladlefuls, whisking the whole time. The egg mixture should now feel warm to the touch — this is what prevents scrambling.
7. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan in a steady stream, whisking as you go. Return the pan to low heat and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom, for 2 to 4 minutes, until the pudding thickens noticeably and coats the spatula. It should reach 170–175°F on an instant-read thermometer; do not let it boil or the eggs will curdle.
8. Pull the pan off the heat immediately and stir in the butter and vanilla until the butter melts. If you see any small cooked-egg specks, pour the pudding through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing the pearls through with the spatula.
9. Serve warm in bowls with a grating of nutmeg, or press plastic wrap directly onto the surface (to prevent a skin) and chill at least 3 hours for a firmer, cold pudding. Top with whipped cream, brown sugar, or a spoonful of jam.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

Frozen Chocolate–Caramel Peanut Nougat Bars

Blueberry Peach Buckle with Almond Streusel

Creole Cream Cheese Cheesecake with Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem