Instructions: This is another unique pudding and a very old recipe. Cooking the large pearl tapioca slowly for hours in a brown-sugar sauce gives this dessert an intense flavor. The additon of English walnuts provides a satisfying crunch. Frequently this pudding was cooked in the oven or in a double boiler, but get ideal results, requiring no watching, with a crockpot.

Place the tapioca and water in a crockpot. Soak overnight.

Do not drain tapioca. Add brown sugar and salt and cook for 12 hours on low.

Stir once in a while. The tapioca becomes clear and the texture is gelatinous at the end of the cooking period. Let cool. Add vanilla, a bit more salt if needed, and the walnuts. Transfer to a shallow serving bowl and spread top liberally with Whipped Cream Topping.

NOTE: Large pearl tapioca requires long, slow cooking to become transparent. And each pearl has a tiny bit of starch in the middle of it that sometimes never completely cooks up which, though edible, looks unpleasant. The crockpot is absolutely perfect for cooking these big pearls-and that little starchy bead completely disappears.

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