Lavender Vanilla Pudding

I'm pretty sure the last time I ate any food that whispered of a gelatenous quality was when I was six years old at a birthday party and one of the desserts was red Jell-O.  While I was admiring the ruby red color and jiggleability (it's a word) of the cube on my plate, one of the other party-goers took great pleasure in informing the table that Jell-O was made from cow and horse hooves.  Being a rather mature seven-year-old (and thus my senior), she also felt the need to tell us that they take the cow and horse hooves from the animals when they are still alive.  And being a wee bit gullible at six, I believed her.  Needless to say, that was the end of my Jell-O-eating childhood.

Unfortunately for my mother, my logic had always been supported by texture rather than fact, and so I rarely touched any other food with similar traits.  But now being nostalgic (and a fair bit less gullible then my six-year-old self), I have been toying recently with the idea of home-made puddings.  After all, they are NOT Jell-O (I still won't eat it...even to this day.  I guess nostalgia only takes you so far).  But pudding seemed like a worthy cause.  I will admit - the boxed varieties of pudding still frighten me with their bizarre colors and strange "flavors" (since when is blueberry flavor derived by anything but blueberries?).  And so I set out to try making my own.

After all, if it's homemade, then at least I know what the pudding is made of.  And it just so happens that I found a girl after my own heart.  She loves making everything from scratch.  No out-of-the-box pudding in her house.  And she just so happened to have a vanilla pudding that was begging to be made.  But it was lacking something.  Don't get me wrong - I am a vanilla girl through and through.  It's just that there is a lovely bunch of lavender growing outside my door, and it is so much fun to be able to actually use what you grow.  And it just so happens that honey-lavender ice cream is my absolute favorite.  And pudding is kind of like ice-cream, right?

Lavender Vanilla Pudding
Adapted from The Homemade Pantry
serves 8

4 cups of milk (either whole milk or 2%)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
5-6 sprigs of lavender (preferably organic)
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a heavy-botomed saucepan, heat 3 cups of milk, sugar, salt, and lavender sprigs on medium-low heat.  Stir frequently.

In the meantime, mix the remaining 1 cup of cold milk with the cornstarch, whisking until there are no lumps.  When the heated mixture begins to steam, remove the lavender sprigs, pressing any remaining moisture out of them into the pot before discarding.  Add the milk-cornstarch mixture and stir constantly, increasing the heat to medium-high.  Cook the mixture until it begins to bubble, and turn it down to low, stirring constantly until it begins to thicken and will coat the back of a spoon, 5-7 minutes.    Remove mixture from heat and whisk in vanilla.

Pour pudding mixture into individual serving dishes (or into one large dish) and allow to cool in the fridge for at least two hours before serving.  The pudding will set as it cools.  Garnish with lavender blossoms and a drizzle of honey before serving.