Honey and Vanilla Bean Milk Pudding

I recently read an article in the Age written by Richard Cornish about the the difference between milk brands available on the market, and the way that an entire generation has become accustomed to processed milk that many of us get from our supermarket shelf. This totally intrigued me, for a while I had wanted to try out this idea I had of making milk pudding, and after reading the article I thought now is a great time to try it out. So I read over the information about the different types of milk that were showcased in the article and decided to try the milk produced from Elgaar farm. 

Elgaar Farm is an organic dairy farm situated in Tasmania priding themselves on delivering pure organic milk that is non-homogenised. I thought this would be perfect for my pudding. The creamy layer would surely translate into the texture of my pudding. 

That label says...."Produced by contented cows dining on organic grass....." I wanna be a contented cow!

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My pudding, or maybe better described as a milk jelly turned out great! I was aiming for something that was subtle in flavour, something that you would enjoy eating after a particularly rich meal. The milk in fact is not too creamy and doesn't come across as too rich. I only used honey as a sweetener, and this was a great move. I felt that if I added sugar it would spoil the sweetness from the milk, and in fact the honey just added another layer of flavour. 

The black specs that the vanilla bean add is a favourite of mine. I love seeing the distinct black dots against the pure white backdrop. So pretty. I had thought that the vanilla would be evenly distributed throughout the pudding, but some how it all fell to the very base of the pudding and gave a cute black pearl crown to the top of the wobbly creation. 

The next time I make it I will add a little extra cream, just to see if its addition adds a sense of lushness. I like the recipe as is, but I just cant help myself and I must tinker with it!

So here's the recipe

Honey and Vanilla Bean Milk Pudding

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

2 cups of whole milk

1 vanilla bean

2 tbsp Strong honey

1 sachet of Davis gelatin

METHOD

1. Add the milk to a small saucepan and set over a low heat.

2. Spilt the vanilla bean in half and scrap all the seeds out. Place into the milk along with the halved vanilla bean. Add the honey.

3. Heat milk until just before boiling point. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin, making sure to make as little amount of froth as possible.

4. Allow to cool slightly, then remove vanilla bean and pour the milk into 4 small ramekins that have been placed on a tray. Place tray into the fridge making sure that the tray remains level. Allow to refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To serve, place individual ramekin into a bowl of hot water (not boiling) an allow the outside of the ramekin to warm for a minute or two. Invert ramekin onto a serving dish and tap sharply until pudding transfers to plate.

 

Lastly, just for a bit of fun I poured some of the pudding into a tiny milk bottle, just for a laugh. But it was so damn cute I couldnt bring myself to eat it, until all the other puddings were gone, and then it was bye bye time for the cute one.