Kids Cuisine

Making tapicoa pudding can be a lot of fun for your kids. It’s kinda like a science project—that you do in the kitchen. But, you need to use the regular tapicoa pearls, not the instant forms. Tapioca comes from the cassava plant and has been used for centuries in creamy puddings and sweet desserts. Its delicate taste will not mask light flavors such as vanilla, peach, or lemon. You can also add pineapple or chocolate or really any other ingredient you’d like.

The fun part is that you have to hydrate the pearls. Image your kids pouring the dry, hard, tapioca pearls (they come in large and small forms) in a bowl, filling the bowl with room temperature water, and letting it sit overnight while they sleep. The next morning they wake up to see the pearls all puffed up and the majority of the water gone. Believe me, a kid will get a kick out of the morphing: “It’s magic!”

The next few steps is when the parent needs to do the work: setting up a double boiler, cooking the pearls in milk (use whole milk, because the taste will be soooo much better) for an hour, separating eggs, whipping the eggs white, folding in the ingredients, and a couple of other adult things.

My 20-month-old got into the action by sitting on the counter watching me whirl my wisk until the eggs whites got to stiff peak potential, and then watched me fold in chocolate chips (of course she had a few).

Making tapicoa pudding can be an activity that will fill up a good hour and half or two hours (if you count the clean-up time). Plus, you then have a creamy treat for dessert. Now that’s good eating! Let me know what you think (if you try the Reese pearls, a recipe is on the back of the package. One pack costs between $3.00-$3.50 and makes 12-16 servings).