Tapioca Cream Pudding

Tapioca Cream Pudding

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

Tapioca is a starch obtained from the cassava root, a tropical
American shrub. Tapioca is available in little round balls or ground
into a coarse granular form that cooks more quickly and is the easiest
to use. Although it is not always mentioned, I like to mix quickcooking
tapioca into the liquid in which it will be cooked and allow
it to stand about 15 minutes before cooking. Tapioca thickens a pudding
by swelling and becoming transparent. It continues to thicken
while cooking. A tapioca-thickened pudding should be stirred while
cooking, but overstirring while cooling tends to disrupt the tapioca
particles, resulting in a sticky, gelatinous mixture.

11/2 tablespoons quick-cooking or minute tapioca
2 cups milk
1A cup sugar
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla

Sprinkle the tapioca over the milk in a heavy saucepan. Let stand
15 minutes to soften. Place over low heat. Stir and heat until mixture
just comes to a boil. Add half the sugar to the egg yolks. Pour a small
amount of the hot mixture into the yolk mixture. Transfer both mixtures
to the top of a double boiler, and cook 5 minutes longer. Cool.
Whip the egg whites with the remaining sugar and vanilla until stiff.
Fold the egg whites into the pudding. Cover and chill.