Fruit Tapioca

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Today's post is for all my fellow tapioca-lovers, but especially for my friend Katharina who has been visiting me for the last few days.

Last year, when I spent a few days in New York City with my lovely friend Katharina (who suffered through me being the worlds laziest person where homework was concerned in high school (i.e. Katharina did the homework and I copied it either on the train, before class, or sometimes even during class)) we realised that she had never had anything with tapioca (like bubble tea). Since then whenever we talk about that week we talk about tapioca....and pork buns...and all the other amazing food we had.

When I read Janet's post about fruit tapioca a while back I really wanted to make but never got around to it.
So when Katharina told me she was coming to Berlin I decided that I should use her as an excuse to make a huuuge bowl full of fruit tapioca.

And it was good :)
Soo good.

Note: Adjust the amount of agave syrup you use depending on how sweet the juice and fruit are.
Also, in case you use the word juice in a different way I - when I talk about juice I mean the 100% from a fruit kind, not the kind with sugar and water (I would call that fruit nectar), and definitely not the sugar-free syrup you mix with water (I would call that squash) - I've had some misunderstandings on that front lately.

Fruit Tapioca
150g Tapioca Pearls (I like the medium ones but the small ones will do just fine)
250ml Water
750ml Fruit Juice (I used grape juice)
300g Fruit (I used mixed berries)
Some Agave Syrup

Take out a big, heavy bottomed pot.
Soak the tapioca in the water for about an hour (if you use the small kind half an hour will do), then add the juice and the fruit and bring things to a boil over a medium heat.
Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the tapioca is tender. Don't forget to keep stirring - have you ever had to scrape burnt tapioca off the bottom of a pot? I had to learn the hard way a while back - it wasn't fun.
If you feel the fruit and juice you used is a bit tart, add some agave syrup to taste.
Find a pretty bowl, allow the tapioca to cool and then find it a home in your fridge.
Oh, and in case you're wondering - this goes incredibly well with some vanilla ice-cream!

Tapioca Pudding

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If there is one thing that will make me love a dessert it's some kind of starch cooked in some liquid. Verena keeps making fun of me for loving all kinds of pudding - semolina pudding, rice pudding, chocolate pudding, tapioca pudding, quinoa pudding, Christmas pudding...nah, really don't like that one...
Anyhow, I have recently been obsessed with finding the perfect tapioca pudding recipe and while I haven't cooked my way through 20 batches yet I have honed in on a winner over the last couple of days.
It's sweet but not too sweet, creamy but not excessively so and the vanilla....hmm

Tapioca Pudding
1/3 cup Small Pearl Tapioca
3 cups Milk
1/3 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract (or 1/2 Vanilla pod if you have one lying around)
1pinch Salt
2 Egg-Yolks

Soak the tapioca in about 2 cups of cold water (1 hour works just fine, if you pass out while watching Grey's Anatomy because you're jet-lagged and only remember the next morning the end result will be slightly softer but will be just as tasty).
Drain the tapioca and combine it with 2/3 of the milk in a saucepan. Heat over a medium-low heat until it starts bubbling (this might take up to 15 minutes). Heating the mixture this slow allows the tapioca pearls to 'cook' through.
In a small bowl or jug mix the remaining milk, egg-yolks, sugar, vanilla and salt.
Once the tapioca mix is bubbling away, add the egg-mix and stir them well.
Cook until the tapioca is translucent (probably another 10-20 minutes but don't just take it off the heat based on the time, go for when the tapioca is done).
Enjoy your tapioca pudding either hot or cold with lots of fresh fruit.