Almond Milk Vanilla Pudding

     When I started this blog, I posted decadent, fattening goodies every day, and I thought it was cute and quirky to poke a little fun at my love of sugar, butter, and carbs. Don't get me wrong, I will always love that stuff, but I'm going to start really making an effort to come up with healthier recipes, at least some of the time because I know the decadence won't be cute forever. As you may have noticed, I've recently gotten addicted to almond milk, so today, I decided to make vanilla pudding out of it. This is the thick kind, made to shape in a mold, and I honestly don't know what I think of it yet. The presentation is definitely fun to play with, since you can mold it into any shape you have and top it with whatever fruit you want. It's growing on me with every spoonful. So you be the judge.

INGREDIENTS: (makes 4 servings)
2 cups plain almond milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
fruit for topping (I used 2 kiwis and 1/2 a pomegranate.)

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a small saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, salt, and vanilla over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, mix the very cold water into the cornstarch. It will be stubborn and really clumpy at first, but keep coaxing it until smooth.

3. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture to the milk. Raise the heat closer to medium and whisk constantly. Let it thicken and boil for 20 seconds, then turn off the heat.

4. Pour into a mold of your choice or just little cups. Spray molds with Pam just to be safe. I filled 2 hearts and 2 fancy glasses. Cover these and refrigerate for at least 2 or 3 hours to set.

5. Prepare your fruit topping. I chopped 2 kiwis into very small pieces and mixed them with the seeds of half of a pomegranate and didn't need to add any sugar. If you want to be more traditional, you could try a berry topping, but for berries, I recommend heating them on the stove with a little sugar first. If you heat the fruit, let it cool completely before putting it on the pudding.

6. When you're sure that the pudding is set, take it out of the mold by turning it upside down onto a plate and top it with the fruit. Put some effort into the presentation on this one!

Enjoy! And come back tomorrow for a delicious pasta recipe!