Mixed Review: Jell-O Instant Pudding
"Both versions were much better than any prepared pudding I've eaten."
One night when I was about seven years old, I broke out in an inexplicable rash. As I sat soaking my itchy skin in the tub, my mother made me go over—in painstaking detail—everything I had eaten that day, from the bowl of Cherrios for breakfast to the bologna and cheese sandwich for lunch. The only thing even remotely out of the ordinary I had that day was chocolate pudding, which my mother had prepared as a special treat.
Please, I remember thinking, don't let me be allergic to chocolate pudding. We never did figure out what caused that mild rash but I'm happy to report that it wasn't the pudding. I've been enjoying the creamy dessert itch-free for the last 21 years. I always get a craving for it at this time of year, when thoughts turn to comfort foods and school lunches.
While nothing can compare to pudding made from scratch, many people hold a special place in their hearts, and stomachs, for store-bought pudding mixes. Who didn't have cook-and-serve or instant pudding at least once as a kid? I can think of nothing more satisfying after a dinner of macaroni and cheese. Jell-O recently released two new kinds of pudding: Vanilla Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Mint Chip ($1.99 each). I whipped up both—in under ten minutes!—for this week's Mixed Review.
While I especially love the skin that forms on the surface of cook-and-serve pudding, Jell-O's vanilla chip and mint chip puddings are both instant varieties. All I had to do to prepare them was add two cups of cold milk and beat with a whisk for two minutes until smooth. Then I transferred the bowls to the refrigerator to chill. In fewer than 20 minutes, the puddings had set up. Each one looked thick, luscious, and smooth. The chocolate mint pudding appeared to be a bit denser, while the vanilla chip seemed especially creamy.
Chocolate Mint Chip
I served myself a bowl of each (hey, I needed to make an accurate comparison!). Just as it looked, the chocolate mint had a heavier consistency. The flavor was very bold: rich dark chocolate and an assertive burst of mint, not unlike peppermint patty or after-dinner Andes.
Vanilla Chocolate Chip
The vanilla chip was more understated, its taste sweet and comforting, if not exactly "authenticly" vanilla. The chocolate chips added a toothsome crunch. While I missed the superior texture of a cook-and-serve pudding, I thought both versions were much better than any prepared pudding I've eaten. I would highly recommend them as an alternative to packaged pudding cups.
The next day, my boyfriend discovered an added bonus: they taste especially delicious, and a lot like fancy frozen custard, when left in the freezer for an hour or two.
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21 Comments:
amazing what chemicals can do!
pooch at 10:17AM on 09/11/09
i'm suprised these rated so well. keep the reviews coming!
_greenbean at 10:22AM on 09/11/09
My guilty pleasure. Pudding on a cloud (Cool Whip). It reminds me of being a kid. Cook & Serve is definitely the way to go, though.
sherrycakes at 10:45AM on 09/11/09
I always freeze those pudding cups. When about half-thawed, they taste like frozen custard. (Works best with chocolate.)
piccola at 11:58AM on 09/11/09
I love dark chocolate and mint together so I'll have to snag a box.
@pooch I feel compelled to add one of those "Yeah, there are NO chemicals in homemade food at all! Not sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, sucrose, dilute acetic acid, ascorbic acid or anything like that at all!" comments.
Chemicals are part of our life, rip on preservatives or whatever you like, but don't abuse the word 'chemical' in ways it does not deserve!
(Unless of course you were not making such a sarcastic comment, in which case... eh well you win some, you lose some)
Drolefille at 1:35PM on 09/11/09
Yeah, most of the time, I definitely would not make pudding from scratch. The results are not different enough to make it worth doing over using a mix.
Drolefille, it bugs me too when people complain about "chemicals" in their food. Or that their food tastes "chemical". All food tastes "chemical". That's how our taste sense works. It detects chemicals.
wunami at 2:30PM on 09/11/09
There's also a Cookies 'N' Cream flavor in this premium instant pudding line. And it is pretty awesome.
tshoward74 at 2:51PM on 09/11/09
Count me in the "love the skin" group.
lemonfair at 3:03PM on 09/11/09
MY-T-FINE is still the absolute best pudding mix on the market. I used to love thatstuff. (Now, of course, I make it from scratch, but even so . . . )
susanl73 at 3:51PM on 09/11/09
Is this the stuff they used at coldstone for the no-melt ice cream?
Chew on That at 5:43PM on 09/11/09
No.
No.
J-E-L-L- N-O
HeartofGlass at 8:41PM on 09/11/09
@drolefille -- the chemicals you speak of are naturally occuring compounds in food.... the chemicals i speak of are artificial flavoring .... and whatever else is in the package that is not real food... my use of the world chemicals encompasses preservatives as well...
hey feel free to whip up a batch of jello pudding, chemicals, preservatives or whatever you want to call it. it's amazing that people eat this crap.
pooch at 9:07PM on 09/11/09
Yes! I thought I was the only one who loved the skin on the pudding more than the pudding beneath it :D
annet at 9:28PM on 09/11/09
I didn't eat much pudding as a kid (not deprived; no interest), but I clicked over because I recently was in Trader Joe's and noticed under the "New Product!" banner boxes of vanilla & chocolate instant pudding. Not being familiar with pudding, I didn't really know the difference between instant and not... I'm curious what you think about those two products (I just made the vanilla; it's sitting in the fridge right now chiling, waiting for me to eat it with granola).
The mint chocolate pudding sounds pretty fantastic, even though I'd never have thought of that as a pudding flavor :)
feistyfoodie at 10:19PM on 09/11/09
I love pudding, but NOT the instant stuff, the texture is wrong, and it get's worse as it sits.
How hard is it to make cooked pudding? First step, DON'T USE A MIX! The hard part about making cooked pudding disappears if you don't use a mix. Forget all that stirring and sticking.
The trick is, you add sugar and flavoring (cocoa powder, vanilla, that sort of thing) to most of the milk (reserve some), bring to a boil, then whisk a mixture of starch (usually corn starch) and milk. Whisk for maybe 10 seconds to setup/boil, then pour into cups. It's INSANELY easy to make.
The results BLOW away any instant pudding.
If you want something incredible, check out the butterscotch pudding recipe in Joy of Cooking, it uses a similar technique to this. You cook brown sugar and button in a pan until gooey, add milk, bring to a boil, then whisk in the starch/milk mixture. That dark complex butterscotch served in whipped cream is incredible.
Cooked puddings are always better the 2nd day since the starch gets to fully hydrate, evening out the texture to make it extra creamy.
Once you've done it a couple times, you can whip up a cooked pudding in 10 minutes, no lumps, no problems!
peekpoke at 12:45AM on 09/12/09
what's the difference between the instant and cook and serve pudding mixes?
bks1210 at 7:22PM on 09/12/09
Not sure where else to suggest this, but my vote for next Mixed Review (if there is any voting to be had) is for Trader Joe's new Beer Bread Mix. It's pretty darn good for a mix, especially with excellent beer. :)
amanda0730 at 9:26PM on 09/12/09
Also, I'll probably get slaughtered for this, but I LOVE instant pudding and...... *cough cough* hate from scratch pudding. I have a problem with the texture, in the opposite way that most people do, I suppose.
amanda0730 at 9:28PM on 09/12/09
The cookies and cream flavor is pretty darn tasty, but the cookies get really soggy after about a day in the fridge. They also have a chocolate flavor with either butterscotch or toffee flavored chips, but that one fell flat for me. It pretty much tasted of only chocolate.
jboylan at 3:33PM on 09/13/09
@peekpoke: the series is called "Mixed Review:" because...why?
*ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding*
It reviews MIXES! You get a "T" for being a troll! ;-)
@pooch: "instant" mixes will forever contain "chemicals", i.e., artificial flavorings, colors, etc. if you detest eating chemicals so much then by all means please stop reading Mixed Review. :-)
Not a fan of chocolate+mint combination so I guess I'll stick with the vanilla or, as suggested by other posters, the cookies and cream versions. :-)
ryushin at 8:19AM on 09/14/09
ryushin... yeah I posted about scratch pudding. But only because the cooked mixes are HARDER to cook than scratch. With cooked pudding mixes you have to endlessly stir to prevent sticking, and carefully use gentle heat. It sucks!
Someone could make a pudding mix where the starch was separate from the sugar/flavoring. But until then, from scratch is much quicker and easier than any cooked pudding mix.
No reason for pudding mixes to have anything artificial, it's just sugar, flavor (coca powder for chocolate) and starch. They do need a modified food starch for instant pudding so that it sets up without heating (I don't think any natural starches have that characteristic).
peekpoke at 11:43PM on 09/14/09