Coffee Pudding

Since my son and I turned out to both be celiac, there are a few old favorites for which we haven’t found an equivalent available in a gluten-free form. One was coffee ice cream. We both missed that flavor, and since I can’t have caffeine, that made it even more difficult! Those store-bought expresso ice creams? Yeah, well, that’s made with REAL coffee, the caffeinated high-test variety. So it was time to figure out how to meet that mouth craving with something easier to make at home. Thus, this.

COFFEE PUDDING

INGREDIENTS

4 cups of double-strength coffee *
1 cup sugar
1 cup cream or milk
1/2 cup cornstarch
whipped cream (optional)

* NOTE: I made this by using our usual coffeemaker set to make six “cups” of coffee, understanding that the normal size cup of coffee is only 3/4s of a proper measuring cup. Normally, I would use 6-7 scoops of dry grounds, depending on the variety and grind of the coffee. For this, I used 12 scoops. Of course, being this was made for my family, we used decaf.

DIRECTIONS

1. Brew coffee. You can let it cool and finish later, or you can continue immediately.

2. Transfer coffee to a saucepan. Add sugar, and bring to a light simmer, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Put the cornstarch in a separate small bowl. Add a small amount of the hot sweet coffee to the cornstarch, and stir with a fork until smooth. Add more liquid if needed. This should not be thick like a paste, but slightly syrupy.

4. Add the cream (or milk) and the cornstarch to the hot coffee at the same time. keep on low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the mixture starts to thicken and persists in bubbling even while stirring.
NOTE: To help minimize clumps and lumps, I used a whisk for the stirring.

5. Transfer the pudding to another container (one with a lid), and put in the refrigerator to chill.

6. Dish to serve in small bowls (I used ramkins). You may wish to garnish with a twist of candied orange peel, a cinnamon stick, or top with sweetened whipped cream.