Homemade Honey Tapioca

I love pudding. Especially the type you cook on the stove. There's just something comforting about warm pudding.  Techno-genius is just the opposite.  He loves his pudding cold, right from the fridge.

I've never made homemade pudding - unless you count the powder from a box to which you add milk. :-)

Aunt Biff has made tapioca pudding a couple times for our dinners at her house and the kids have discovered a keen liking to it.

With that and having come across a neat looking recipe on Pinterest, I decided to give it a go.

I adapted this recipe from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day to come up with a fairly tasty honey tapioca.

Players Roster:  Will make 8-12 servings

6 C milk (I used 5 C skim and 1 C heavy whipping cream to give it more creaminess - you could also use half-n-half or use a higher percentage of fat -- 2% or even whole)
2/3 C small pearl tapioca
4 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
2/3 C honey (I simply used regular honey as I couldn't find any "flavored" honey at the store - the original recipe called for raspberry honey)
Grated zest from 1 small lemon - could use bit more since this recipe has been doubled.

Soak tapioca in 2 cups of milk for 30-60 min in medium/heavy saucepan.
Whisk in egg yolks, salt, honey, and remainder of milk.
Bring mixture barely to a boil over med/low heat. (I had to up my heat to med/high to get to this point)
Decrease heat so mixture gently simmers, stirring constantly, for another 20 minutes. (this is the hard part - that's a long time to stand and stir over a hot stove)
The tapioca pearls will become translucent when done. Taste to confirm.
Sauce will thicken to custard as well.
Once done, remove from heat and add lemon zest.

Creamy and yummy. Very mild flavor. I believe the flavored honey - of any kind - would add a great deal to the overall taste.