Fluffy Old-Fashioned Tapioca

In a 3 quart heavy-bottomed saucepan, begin to heat 3 1/4 cups of the milk until just hot to the touch, not boiling.

Meanwhile, separate the eggs, putting the yolks in a medium bowl, and whites in a large, grease free, stainless steel mixing bowl.

Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup milk into the yolks, add 1/4 cup of maple syrup, the tapioca, and the salt. Set aside.

When milk is hot, whisk your egg yolk mixture well, then pour and whisk it into the hot milk in saucepan. Cook the tapioca over medium heat, whisking occasionally; about 5 minutes. Then whisk constantly for 5 minutes more, or until mixture comes to a full boil.

Whisk constantly over full boil for one full minute, then remove from heat and set aside. Add in the vanilla.

With electric mixer, whip your egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, beating continuously.

When the egg whites are thick and foamy, increase speed to high until you see the tracks of the beater on the top. Beat a bit more, then turn off your mixer and check to see that the whites form a tip that droops just slightly when you lift the beaters.

Spoon a generous cupful of hot tapioca into the whites and fold them with a rubber spatula. Continue adding and folding in until all of tapioca is incorporated.

Serve warm with fruit and whipped cream, or allow to cool at room temperature for about an hour. Then refrigerate until chilled, and serve cold with whipped cream.

Refrigerate leftovers.

**A few recipe notes, if you’re so inclined:
I sweetened this pudding using a half maple syrup, half granulated sugar mix. Make sure you use pure maple syrup and not any sort of imitation, as the flavor will be off. If you don’t have access to pure maple syrup, just sub in granulated sugar (and increase the milk by 1/4 cup).

I used the maple syrup because I prefer using natural sweeteners versus refined ones, and up North here it’s super easy to come by. However, the maple flavor is not at the forefront here. With tapioca, you want good vanilla to be the dominant flavor.

When I made this, I added the maple syrup to my beaten egg whites (thus the pretty caramel hue). As I note in the recipe, I would probably switch this around the next time and add the maple syrup to the egg yolks and the sugar to the whites. But that’s just me bein’ picky…

I love to eat this warm, with fruit. But if you want more of a pudding dessert, you can certainly chill it for a while and it becomes nice and chiffon-like. If you want to serve this as a simple dessert, you must top it with softly whipped cream!