5-Minute Black Tea Caramel Pudding (Instant Mix Hack)

Look, this recipe isn’t rocket science. If you’ve ever made instant pudding from a packet before, you can absolutely nail this one without breaking a sweat. The genius behind this whole idea is really more of a brilliant tip than anything else, those basic instant pudding mixes taste pretty bland, right? Just milk, sugar, and a whisper of vanilla. That’s why so many folks toss in an egg or egg yolk to jazz things up a bit.

But here’s where it gets interesting, what other simple additions can transform your humble pudding mix? Enter black tea. I’ve got to admit, I was pleasantly surprised by how much this variation elevated the entire dessert. Beyond the gorgeous caramel, the tea brings this lovely tart, slightly astringent note mixed with floral undertones that makes the pudding not just more delicious, but way less cloying too.

This is half recipe, half brilliant idea that proves you can seriously improve commercial instant products with just a few clever tweaks here and there. It’s amazing what one little tea bag can do when you know where to put it! Trust me on this one, it makes all the difference in the final result.

5-Minute Black Tea Caramel Pudding (Instant Mix Hack)

Servings: 6
Time: 15mins
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: ★★★★★
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Sometimes the best culinary revelations come from the simplest tweaks. Today we're turning a basic instant pudding into something absolutely sublime with just one tea bag.

Ingredients

Instant Pudding – 1 Sachet (Or Equivalent for 500ml of Liquid)
Black Tea – 1 Sachet
Milk – 500ml (Semi-Skimmed)
Brown Sugar – 50g
Caramel – To Taste

Directions

Start by mixing the instant pudding mix with 50g of sugar and a little of the 500ml of milk in a bowl, mixing well until everything is dissolved.
Heat the remaining milk with a black tea bag.

When the milk begins to boil, remove the black tea bag and squeeze it to remove all the liquid.
Then add the pudding and sugar mixture, stirring constantly into the hot milk.
Let the mixture cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 to 5 minutes until it begins to thicken, remove from the heat and pour into a large bowl lined with caramel or into small bowls.

Leave to cool in the refrigerator. Once cold, you can remove from the bowl and serve chilled. Bon appétit!

Notes: I made my own caramel using just 100g (1/2 cup) of sugar, it’s easy just 100gr of sugar and 40ml of water, take it to the stove top with low heat and let it cook until it turns brown, but feel free to use store-bought caramel if you’re short on time.

Please note that this recipe is based off the instant pudding instructions, yours might be a bit different, just make sure to infuse the tea with the liquid.

You can substitute white sugar and whole milk for an even richer variation.

The nutritional info is approximate since each pudding packet only contains about 4.8g of mix, most of the calories come from the milk and sugar.

This recipe makes 6 small servings at roughly 151 calories each, but you can dramatically reduce this by skipping or reducing the caramel (drops to about 88 calories per serving).

Don’t be tempted to use a stronger tea, black tea provides the perfect balance without overwhelming the delicate pudding base, but you can change it for like chai tea if you want a more spiced version ;D

Make sure to squeeze that tea bag really well, that’s where all the magic flavor compounds are hiding!

This recipe for 5-Minute Black Tea Caramel Pudding (Instant Mix Hack) was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Pudim Flan Mandarim de Chá Preto foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.