I woke up this morning to our cat Aggie licking my eyelids. She had already been fed. I knew this because of the unmistakable aroma. She just wanted me to get up. Something about that seems to perfectly symbolize my life this bittersweet week.  A sweet unwelcome gesture that ultimately I will look back at and smile*. Someday.

Our oven has been broken for 2 weeks now. 2 WEEKS. 2 weeks without baking bread. 2 weeks without lasagna, tofu jerky, pizza and homemade seitan**. 2 WEEKS. Dessert is usually fruit around our house so it hasn’t really changed our life in that aspect much except that I haven’t been able to make any baked goods for all of you. Don’t think I’m not tempted to post my landlord’s email and start a letter writing campaign or maybe see if we can get our good buddy Pulin to start an online petition.

So the other day I was thinking about our dear friend Betty and her pantheon of puddings. Seriously. What that mythical woman could do with pudding is the thing of legend. You probably already knew that though if you noticed the pudding parfait recipes in our book. Toss in the fact that I haven’t had a steady supply of caffeine in years and Dan loves pudding and you could say the stars alined. They lead me to this recipe and the next addition to The Betty Crocker Project. Long Live The Vegan Pudding-Palooza! 

I also had a few requests for a soy-free pudding recipe so we tinkerd a bit with one of my favorite nuts*** and added the almonds. One tip I feel obliged to mention is that you need to make sure you really grind those almonds really fine or they’ll swell in the pudding and create little soft lumps. They actually taste good but I’m a perfectionist for texture and prefect pudding is undoubtedly lump free. Much like life.

Le Sigh.

Almond Cappuccino Pudding

1/2 Cup Sugar

3 Tablespoons Cornstarch

2 Tablespoons EnerG Egg Replacer

1/8 teaspoon Sea Salt

3 teaspoons Almond Flour (or finely ground raw almonds)

1 Tablespoon Baking Chocolate Powder

2 Cups Almond Milk

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (room temperature)

1 teaspoon Vanilla or Almond Extract

1/4 Cup VERY Strong Coffee or Espresso

Vegan Whipped Cream and Chocolate Covered Almonds or Coffee Beans for garnish

In a saucepan, mix Sugar, Cornstarch, Egg Replacer, Almond Flour, Chocolate and Salt. Stir the mix while pouring in the Almond Milk and Coffee and heating the saucepan at a medium heat. Stir constantly. The mix will start to thicken as it boils. Boil and stir for about a minute. If it starts to stick to the side while it simmers – use a spatula to keep it from sticking and reduce your heat.

Remove from heat and mix in Coconut Oil and Vanilla. Then, pour the mix into a large mixing bowl with high sides and blend with a hand mixer at the highest setting for about a minute. Then cover the bowl and put in the fridge about an hour or until chilled.

*Working on it.

**I prefer it baked not boiled.

***No not this weirdo.