CHOCOLATE ALMOND TAPIOCA PUDDING (SLOW COOKER)

Steps:

• Use a 4 qt slow cooker. Combine the milk, sugar and tapioca in the insert. Stir well to mix.
• Cover and cook on High for two to three hours. It will still be soupy at this point.
• In a medium or large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, almond extract, and cocoa powder.
• Remove 1/2 cup of the hot tapioca/milk mix from the crockpot, and stir into the eggs, whisking all the time. A standard ladle is 1/2 cup. Add another 1/2 cup of the hot mix, whisk thoroughly, and then another 1/2 cup. This tempers the eggs, so that they don't turn into scrambled eggs.
• Pour the egg mixture into the slow cooker and stir very thoroughly to combine.
• Cover and cook on High for 30 minutes to one hour, or until the tapioca has begun to swell and thicken.
• Turn off the slow cooker, remove the lid and let this stand an hour to thicken further. Remove to a large bowl, cover with plastic pushing the plastic against the tapioca (to prevent a skin from forming), and chill.
• Note1: I used seed tapioca, about the size of sesame seeds. I will try this using a couple of tablespoons less, to get a slightly looser consistency, although it was just fine the way it was.
• Note2: I used 2% milk, as that was what I had. I also used only 3/4 cup sugar - the original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups, and that would have been much too sweet for me. I might double the amount of cocoa powder next time.