Why does tapioca fail to set? I've been making tapioca pudding with large pearls for nearly twenty years. I've used the same process every time, and most times it thickens, but occassionally it just doesn't. I soak my pearls over night. I use a double boiler. I use a combination of whole milk and half and half. I use excessive numbers of egg yolks, and whip the whites for addition at the end. I stir continuously after the tempering and additon of the egg yolks. I've read (somewhere) that the tapioca loses it's thickening ability if left on the shelf too long. Just this weekend, I made two batches of tapioca, with two different packages of pearls, that were purchased from different sources, the day before use. Both were soupy failures. I've made literally hundreds of delicious batches of thick, scrumptious tapioca in my life, but sometimes it just fails. I suspect (though have no proof) that it is the quality of the pearls purchased from the retailer. It's also possible that using an electric burner, vs gas, could have an effect. But, with a double boiler, that shouldn't really make a difference. Anyway, it's really frustrating, when you want to provide a special treat to your family, and it fails. Twice. Arghhh! Martha

Well, I learned something in the preview of Jeni's book on Amazon (and ordered the book to thank her): Like the Sicilian gelato, she uses starch to stabilize the frozen yoghurt. I have tapioca starch! I'm going to try that. The book also has the best frozen yoghurt instructions I've seen. They're for a more commercial grade of frozen yoghurt, but might be worth the trouble if I want to make a serious effort for a lot of company. Being able to make ahead and store in the freezer would be a boon. Unlike Jeni, I'm trying to reduce the richness of the dessert, rather than boost it, and her ice cream flavors sound a bit muddy for me, but the depth she goes into on techniques for storing and serving should be very useful.

Fluffy Tapioca 1 egg, separated 6Tbsp. sugar, divided 3Tbsp. MINUTE Tapioca 2cups 2% reduced fat milk 1tsp. vanilla Make It BEAT egg white in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Gradually add 3 Tbsp. sugar, beating until soft peaks form. MIX tapioca, remaining sugar, milk and egg yolk in medium saucepan. Let stand 5 minutes. COOK on medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to full boil. Remove from heat. Quickly stir egg white mixture into hot tapioca in saucepan until well blended. Stir in vanilla. Cool 20 minutes; stir. Serve warm or chilled. For creamier pudding, place plastic wrap on surface of pudding while cooling. Stir before serving. Store leftover pudding in refrigerator.

* Posted by coconut-nj (My Page) on Sat, May 30, 09 at 11:27 Sally, anywhere that has alot of British imports would probably have it. I was checking out who had it online the other day and while you might not want 6 bottles of it.. smiles... Amazon has 6 bottles for $27.05. It's free shipping too. Most places sell it for between five and six or up to eight dollars, so that's a great price. They say they're 15 oz bottles. Maybe somebody else would want to go in on it with you?? I've always heard of it described as a mayo with more vinegar and also with a mustard taste. Sounds good. Smiles. My DW used it when she used to travel to the UK all the time for buisness. Surprised she didn't bring any back. I have a head of savoy cabbage so I'm going to make my easy 'stuffed' cabbage casserole that I described above. It makes it so easy and quick which is just what we want on a Saturday night. Steam the cabbage briefly, layer it with dirty rice, pour some tomato juice mixed with onion and garlic powder between layers and on top and bake for about 40 minutes. I'll see if I can manage to take a picture. I seem to be terrible at that. The camera is always in the other room and it's a kind of big house and by the time I'm done cooking I'm not walking very well. LOL.. We will see. Oh btw, I always make two dishes of this because Christy gets burnt out on "red" since I always have something made with red sauce around I make her a version with just some broth on it. I do stuffed peppers for her the same way. No red. I do love the red on it but prefer tomato juice since it's nice and light although I'll just water down tomato sauce or puree with chicken stock/broth, if I don't have any handy.