Tapioca Pudding
Recipe No. 122 from the U.S. Army's WWII cookbook — Desserts. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.
Recipe No. 122 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Desserts. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.
Ingredients
- Milk, evaporated — 17½ — 14½-ounce cans
- Water (for milk) — 1¼ gallons (7 No. 56 dippers)
- Tapioca, quick cooking — 2 pounds
- Sugar, granulated — 5 pounds (2½ No. 56 dippers)
- Salt — 2½ ounces (5 mess kit spoons)
- Eggs, beaten — 30 eggs (1½ No. 56 dippers)
- Vanilla — 1½ ounces (3 mess kit spoons)
Directions
Key ingredients
- Mix milk and water. Heat ⅔ milk slowly until a slight film forms on top.
- Combine remaining cold milk, tapioca, sugar, and salt; stir until smooth.
- Add tapioca mixture gradually to hot milk, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, until tapioca granules are transparent.
- Remove from heat. Pour slowly onto beaten egg; mix well. Add vanilla; chill.
- Cool; stirring occasionally.
Notes
SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Milk, evaporated — 1⅓ can(s) (14½ oz) Water (for milk) — 1⅔ cups Tapioca, quick cooking — 2½ oz Sugar, granulated — 6⅓ oz Salt — about 1¼ tsp Eggs, beaten — 2⅓ eggs Vanilla — about ¾ tsp
Serve plain or with a sauce (recipes Nos. 485 to 490) or with evaporated milk.
⚠ As printed, the manual is inconsistent here — “Water (for milk): 1¼ gallons (7 No. 56 dippers)”: 1¼ gallons = 5 qt, but gloss says 7 dippers = 7 qt. Transcribed exactly as printed; the parenthetical Army measure is usually the safer one to follow.
— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 122, Desserts. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints. NOTE: a quantity on the scanned page was unclear — check the PDF in the Reference Library.