Kozy Shack pudding?

[mamadelbosque]

So, I just found this pudding at my local grocery store and it actually looks pretty decent - not full of artificial flavors, preservatives, etc. And its nice and smooth (which my home-made pudding has yet to turn out like - I keep getting lumps...). Does anyone have any thoughts on whether or not this is a good choice as far as puddings go? (Or, any ideas on how to get my pudding to be smooth and not all lumpy??)

[cristeen]

I used to buy Kozy Shack... until I did the math on making it myself and realized how much more expensive it was...

What's your recipe for pudding? What flavor? What's the thickener - egg or cornstarch?

[kittyhead]

gosh i lived on this stuff while i was pregnant. i was not about to cook pudding, and the ingredients are decent... especially compared to Jello and stuff. plus its really good!

[artemis33]

We buy it occasionally when it is on sale I usually get the european style rice pudding or the chocolate.

I can't seem to make a good homemade pudding either (mine gets a weird almost curdled texture?).

Cristeen maybe you would be kind enough to share a recipe? I often have extra milk to use up and would LOVE to make good homemade pudding!

[cristeen]

I usually make Tapioca... and you really won't know if you wind up with lumps in that... buy a box of medium pearl tapioca (not quick/instant), and follow the recipe on the back of the box. Something like 2 c milk, 1/2 c tapioca, 1/2 c sugar, 2 eggs. But that's just off the top of my head. I've been known to turn it into butterscotch or chocolate tapioca depending on my mood.

If I'm making pudding for DH though, I make butterscotch, following the recipe here: http://eggbeater.typepad.com/shuna/2...scotch_pu.html

Even if you're not a fan of butterscotch, I recommend reading the recipe, because it's incredibly detailed in how to avoid lumps. Oh, and I use rapadura instead of brown sugar.

[rhiOrion]

I think the lumpy issue in pudding usually comes from eggs cooking.

Try tempering the eggs very slowly before you add them to the mix. Put the beaten eggs in a separate bowl and add the hot mixture to the eggs a spoonful at a time, and once the eggs are relatively warm, THEN add them to your pudding.

If you still get lumps, just strain it.

[staceychev]

Originally Posted by kittyhead

gosh i lived on this stuff while i was pregnant. i was not about to cook pudding, and the ingredients are decent... especially compared to Jello and stuff. plus its really good!

I'm 24 weeks, and just bought two packages of their rice pudding at the store this weekend. Definitely a preggo moment (and doesn't give me heartburn, miraculously).

But yeah, as far as store-bought puddings go, this is one of the better ones. It's all real ingredients. (Have you ever read the ingredients on Jello pudding? Yikes!) I'm all for making things homemade, but I really don't like making pudding, so it's worth the money for me.

[sunnysandiegan]

I've never made homemade pudding. I have made lemon curd from scratch many times and it is delicious (no lumps, either), but it is time-consuming. Is pudding time-consuming?

[mamadelbosque]

Yeah, my first reaction when I glanced at the ingredeints was 'Hey! Look at that! I know what ALL of these things are!!' - which when you look at jello pudding is definetly NOT the case!!

I really would like to make my own pudding, but like I said, it just turned out lumpy. It did have eggs, and curdling does seem like the right word to me. IDK I'll have to try it again sometime, but it just turned out kinda awful the first time... I made Bittman's recipe from How to Cook Everything... most everything else I've made from that books turned out wonderful, but the pudding... not so much.

[jessjgh1]

Doesn't it now have splenda in it?
I was all excited a while back to see it was on sale, and then I happened to notice that the packages had splenda on them. I don't remember that they advertised low-cal or anything, but I didn't look much after I saw that. It was both rice pudding and regular because I was thinking of getting some for my little ones.
I have a rice pudding recipe somewhere that used leftover rice and was pretty good, but I have not made it in a while.

Jessica

[riverscout]

Originally Posted by jessjgh1

Doesn't it now have splenda in it?

They have a "no sugar added" version that has splenda, but the regular flavors just have plain old sugar. I love chocolate Kozy Shack .

[Barefoot~Baker]

I loooove KS rice pudding! I will never even attempt to make it myself again.

Sometimes they have coupons under the lids. If you email the company and give them some praise, include your address and they might send you some coupons

[Ruthla]

Kozy Shack is the only brand of pudding I ever buy (well, unless I'm in Trader Joe's and I buy their brand, whose ingredients are identical to KS.) Not that I buy pudding all that often, as it's kind of expensive and I really dont' need my kids eating that much sugar.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by mamadelbosque

It did have eggs, and curdling does seem like the right word to me.

The word you're probably looking for is scrambled.

If you don't properly temper your eggs before adding them to the hot liquid, or you don't have the heat low enough/stir fast enough, the eggs will scramble on you and give you that lumpy texture. You can always pass it through a fine mesh sieve while it's still hot to remove the lumps.

[LauraLoo]

If anyone is interested in a single serving chocolate pudding, I've made this recipe a number of times - It's quick!
http://www.thefoodmaven.com/whattocook/ch_pudding.html