I love Halloween! It is one of my favorite holiday’s. Mostly because I love to dress up, but also a little bit because I love candy. Growing up, when it came to Halloween candy, I was serious. I did not want to share and I wanted my stash to last me a while. I always “hid” it in my room thinking no one knew where it was. The same way my Mom “hid” leftover halloween candy in a bowl on the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard, probably thinking no one knew where it was.
Things are a little different now that I am a Mom myself. I still love Halloween, I still love candy and I still dress up. But now it’s about Izzy and her experience. Obviously, she is not ready for candy yet at only 14 months old. But I can’t help but want to give her a treat. I believe that when it comes to sweets it is about moderation and exposure. The less opportunity for treats the more of an obsession it can become - I mean look at Mimi haha! But I feel when treats are offered here and there without a big commotion, then the mystery is taken away. And with owning a bakery, I want Izzy to feel comfortable around desserts and not be obsessed. I want her to feel like treats are normal, probably not always daily, but I want her to enjoy desserts. And I want her to have something to celebrate a holiday, because it’s part of what make holidays fun. And enjoying something sweet with your family can make for lasting memories. So I wanted to make Izzy something special for this Halloween, while everyone else eats their candy!
Izzy is becoming more and more independent when it comes to eating. She went from wanting her own food to now wanting her own utensils. We found these great forks and spoons by Grabease. They are so easy for her to hold. They are specifically designed with children’s fine motor skills in mind. So I thought what’s better than a traditional homemade pudding? She can even eat it on her own. And just for fun I colored it like candy corn with no artificial coloring, it is all plant derived using the colors we use at Dessert’D that are by ColorKitchen. This is also great for Halloween parties displayed on the table for guests! I tried to make a cute display of these at the bake shop, but then Izzy sat on the table and went ham on pudding - she clearly loved it!
Vanilla Candy Corn Pudding
Makes 4 - 8 ounce Jars
14 grams (2 tablespoons) organic cornstarch
3 cups organic half and half
226 grams (1 cup) organic cane sugar
4 organic large egg yolks
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
1 tablespoon organic salted butter
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon ColorKitchen Yellow Dye
1/2 teaspoon ColorKitchen Orange Dye
Method First, separate the egg yolks into a heat safe bowl, beat lightly and set aside.
In a large metal saucepan, add the sugar, cornstarch and half and half and put over medium heat. Gently whisk the mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved. Continue lightly whisking as it thickens. Wait for it to boil. Once it boils continue whisking for about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat (but leave the stove on medium heat, we’ll be putting it back on the heat in a minute).
Pour half of the sugar mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks while slowly whisking. Combine the sugar and egg yolk mixture (from the bowl) back into the saucepan while slowly whisking. Do this slowly so that you do not cook the eggs. Put back on the heat and continue to cook over medium heat bringing it back up to a gentle boil. Then, reduce the heat to a simmer and whisk for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat (now you’re done with the stove :)
Add in the butter, salt and vanilla and stir to combine completely.
Divide into 3 bowls. Add the yellow dye to one bowl, the orange to another and leave the last bowl with no dye. Stir to combine the ones with dye completely so the colors is completely mixed in.
Cover each bowl with plastic wrap, it should be touching the pudding. This will keep it from forming a film layer. Let the pudding sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes. Then place in the fridge overnight to thicken and set.
Fill each pastry bag with one color of pudding. If you don’t have pastry bags, you can just use a spoon to layer the colors. Layer the bottom of the jar with the yellow pudding, next layer the orange pudding, and lastly fill the jar with the white pudding. You now have candy corn pudding!
High Altitude - Follow recipe as noted.
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