Cozy Florida

Miami and Vermont. Two places that couldn’t be more different. Miami’s a crowded, vibrant, chaotic city in South Florida. Vermont is bucolic, rural, orderly — and is nestled north of Boston and south of Montreal.

Sun and snow. Beaches and mountains. Alligators and moose. Cuban coffee and maple syrup.

I’ve lived in both places, and both had a profound effect on me and my writing. One taught me to embrace the wild, while the other expanded my horizons and mindset. Both also taught me a lot about food.

My recipe today is a nod to both Miami and Vermont. There are four ingredients, and it takes about fifteen minutes total to make (and a couple of hours to chill).

I began flirting with vegetarianism and a vegan lifestyle in Vermont, and while I lived in Miami, I got to know a community of raw food lovers and became a full-fledged vegan for the first time. This simple dessert isn’t raw, but it is vegan — although, you could probably use cow’s milk in place of plant milk.

You can also use your preferred brand of instant coffee, but I went with Bustelo, which is popular in Miami. The sweetener is also up to you, and feel free to use whatever you had on hand. But I’m a maple syrup purist after living in the woods of Vermont, so I always buy syrup that’s from the Green Mountain State.

Vegan Coffee Pudding

INGREDIENTS

2 cups plant milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)

2 tablespoons instant coffee

5 tablespoons maple syrup

5 tablespoons corn starch

DIRECTIONS

1. Put all of the ingredients in a pan and blend until everything is combined.
2. Turn on the heat to medium low. Whisk continuously for ten minutes. You’ll get an arm workout. The concoction will turn frothy, then darken, then become the consistency of custard.
3. After ten minutes, remove from the heat. Spoon into glass jars, espresso cups or another cute vessel.
4. Allow the pudding to cool a bit, then put in fridge for a couple of hours to set.
5. Enjoy!
6. OPTIONAL: top with a dab of whipped cream

~~Tara Lush