Over the summer I’ve been frequenting the library. Not only is it fun for my little guy to explore there but I could get lost in the sea of cookbooks. I found this pearl of a recipe in an old cookbook of recipes from Gourmet Magazine. The short list of ingredients and steps was appealing (no one wants to bake in the heat of the summer) plus the fact that I could use pretty much any summer produce for the fruit on the bottom part was an easy win. Turns out it was a fabulous dessert that I can’t wait to make again and again…maybe next time with peaches!
I don’t have much for you on this recipe except for this – if you’ve never made tapioca pudding you must and this recipe is the easiest of all of the ways to make it! And if you have never tried tapioca pudding, this is also a must, the pearl-y tiny white balls turn into a perfectly toothsome texture that is as much fun to eat as it is delicious.
Not only have I been exploring old cookbooks this summer, I’ve also been exploring old devotionals and writings from legendary Christian writers. So, I’ll leave you with this sweet prayer titled “Joyous and Helpful Labor” written by John Baillie –
You send me forth to the work of another day
This day, O Lord –
give me courtesy:
give me meekness of bearing, with decision of character:
give me long suffering:
give me chastity:
give me sincerity of speech:
give me diligence in my allotted task.
Fruit on the Bottom Tapioca Pudding
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1/3 cup small tapioca pearls
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 vanilla bean* divided in half
- 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar*
- 1 pint strawberries, 2 cups or one regular sized container, cored
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan. Whisk in tapioca and simmer, uncovered, whisking occasionally, until tapioca is mostly opaque, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place cored and sliced strawberries in a bowl with 2 tablespoons sugar and seeds from half of the vanilla bean..
- Into the tapioca, whisk in cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Simmer, uncovered, whisking occasionally, until tapioca is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Stir in the other half vanilla bean seeds (scraped from the pod). Transfer to a metal bowl and cool completely in an ice bath, stirring frequently, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Pulse strawberries in a food processor with until coarsely puréed. Divide among 6 (6-ounce) glasses.
- Spoon tapioca over strawberries. Chill until cold, about 15 minutes.
This dessert looks so yummy — and I love the little tapioca pearls! Love the prayer, too; thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks Stephanie! Good to hear from you. Hope you and your sweet girl had a fabulous summer!
Love tapioca pudding! My grandmother used to make this for us when we’d go over to her home – she’d use sweet red bean on the bottom. This WOULD be awesome with peaches too!!
ohh sweet red bean would be so fun to try. Do you know how she would make that? Good to hear from you Gabriel!!
I love tapioca, and the idea to make it fruit on the bottom was just genius! Pinning to try!
Thanks Marcie! Making your own fruit on the bottom cups are so fun 🙂
I do love tapioca and the fruit and vanilla….yumm;) What I’d like to know is are those canning jars or glasses? Where can I get them? I love them.
They are canning jars. They’re from weck jars online. They are some of my favorites 🙂