Can You Freeze Pudding? Can Freezing Affect Its Taste?
Like yogurt, pudding is arguably the easiest homemade dessert out there but brings the great result. You can do it in less than 10 minutes or maybe 15 minutes if you want to serve pudding with freshly whipped cream. And your kid will absolutely love it.
Because it is so easy to make pudding, many of us would make too much of it. Of course, throwing it away is out of the question. Should you refrigerate pudding? Or is freezing it the way to go?
These are some of the questions I would like to tackle in this article.
What is pudding?
Most of us know that pudding is a savory dessert, but it can also be a dish in itself. The word itself comes from the French word “boudin” meaning small sausage, in reference to encased meats during the medieval period.
In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth territories, pudding is used to refer to sweet and savory dishes. In the United States and Canada, it is a sweet, milk-based dessert with a consistency similar to custards or mousse.
Pudding goes by various names like “custard” if it is egg based; “jelly” if it has gelatin and “blancmange” if it has cornstarch.
I grew up eating a lot of pudding during my childhood years. My mom would often serve us with this dessert after we finish our meals.
Puddings aren’t exactly new. Aside from the fact that the name came from the French word pertaining to encase meats during the Medieval Age, there’s evidence that chocolate pudding has been enjoyed as early as the 1700s.
During the 18th century, boiled pudding was usually served to soldiers onboard ships of the Royal Navy.
Can you freeze pudding?
Yes, you can freeze pudding but it would depend largely on its components. Some pudding components don’t really turn out great when you put them in the freezer. For example, cookies have a tendency to become soggy when frozen.
Bread pudding, rice pudding, gelatin pudding and even tapioca pudding, on the other hand, freeze well. In fact, freezing these puddings can extend their storage life to up to 3 months. When frozen, pudding’s consistency becomes very similar to ice cream.
How to freeze pudding
Freezing pudding is pretty simple. When properly done, it can keep your leftover pudding safe for consumption for up to 3 months.
Before freezing pudding, you should let it cool especially if you have baked bread pudding. This shouldn’t take more than 2 hours.
If you have baked bread pudding, cut it into smaller pieces so that it would be easier for you to store it in the freezer. Wrap the pieces properly using a plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Doing so would protect it against the elements.
As I mentioned earlier, gelatin pudding also freezes well. And you can make them into frozen pops that your kids would surely love.
Freezing gelatin pudding is also very easy. Here’s a tip that I can share: whisk the gelatin pudding with 2 cups of cold milk. Then pour the mixture into plastic cups. Insert wooden pop sticks into the center of each cup and freeze for at least 5 hours.
This should serve as a great quick snack for the little ones, or even your guests to cool down during the summer months.
How to thaw pudding
Like in freezing, thawing pudding is simple. I usually put the frozen pudding in the fridge overnight so that it will thaw nicely. Then I can enjoy the thawed pudding as a snack or use it in a recipe the following day.
It’s also possible to thaw the pudding at room temperature for a couple of hours. I wouldn’t recommend this, though, when thawing pudding pie, though. Doing so would expose the dessert to moisture which the pie crust would absorb.
Speaking of pudding pie, I usually follow a recipe that’s low in liquids and high in fat. Think of crushed cookie crust. This will enable the pie crust to maintain its texture while being thawed.
How to tell if a pudding has gone bad
You can tell that a pudding has gone bad when there are pockets of liquid separated from the other ingredients. Another sign that you have to discard the pudding is when there’s a sharp, bitter flavor instead of the typical sweet taste.
Conclusion
Like most foods, pudding is safe to be stored in the freezer. Freezing can extend the storage life of pudding for up to 3 months. And certain puddings like gelatin pudding can be turned into frozen pops.
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