Hmmm…maybe I should change the name to Vintage Beverage Friday, because this week we have another non-alcoholic cocktail!
This is Coffee Float!
This week’s drink is from the fabulous “The Proof of the Pudding” from 1965, which was put out by General Mills to sell instant pudding. The book suggests that instant pudding is the “Dessert Insurance” you need when food emergencies pop up during your “wild profession of homemaking.” For example, if you need a quick dessert drink when a neighborhood meeting at your house goes long.
- 1 - 4 serving size package vanilla or Butterscotch instant pudding
- ¼ cup prepared instant coffee
- 5 cups milk
- Whipped topping, sweetened whipped cream or ice cream
- Combine pudding mix and instant coffee in a large bowl. Add ½ cup of milk; stir to blend thoroughly.
- Slowly add remaining milk; blend well. Then beat with rotary beater for 1 minute. Chill.
- Stir just before serving. Serve in tall glasses with whipped topping, whipped cream or ice cream
Although, calling this a drink is really a stretch. Even with the extra milk it’s just pudding with a straw in it. Butterscotch pudding, in our case.
Another picture, just to admire our Big Boy glass.
“This isn’t coming through the straw.”
“Try harder. It’s pudding”
“This is…really bitter.”
“Yeah, there is a lot of instant coffee in it. I mean…a lot. Like three cups worth.” (*NOTE: Oops!)
“Holy crap.”
“You might want to stir in that ice cream.”
“Wow, yeah. That’s much better.”
The Verdict: Strong
From The Tasting Notes –
NOTE: Thanks for the suggestions! It was late last night, and instead of 1/4 cup granules I should have just used a 1/4 cup of prepared instant coffee! That would have totally improved the flavor. Ha!
After that it was actually good. It was thick, of course, because it was basically just pudding with a straw in it, but it ended up being an okay dessert drink. If you have these things lying around your house I would suggest making this, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy the stuff to make these.
Coffee and butterscotch sounds… interesting. I’ve never had them together.
I love the glass- I could go for a Big Boy and Strawberry Pie for lunch today.
Hi,
I wonder if they meant 1/4 cup prepared instant coffee liquid. Rather than 1/4 cup of granules. Sounds yummy.
Thanks for all you do
Tammy
Yeah! You are totally right. I updated the post to mention that! Thanks!
Haha! I knew an older lady that made the same mistake with a coffee/chocolate cake recipe. She put a whole cup of dry grounds in the cake batter instead of a cup of liquid coffee. The cake was crunchy. Maybe you could do a whole post of things like that- the wrong ways we read recipes. 😉
Ha! Maybe I should! I’ve totally made enough mistakes over the last 5 years doing this to fill up at least one post! 🙂
Wonder how that would work out with chocolate pudding..and the changes in the instant coffee. Float some whipped cream on top?
Fwiw, I would have interpreted it the way you did — as using the granules. I often use instant espresso powder in chocolate recipes and putting in 1/4 granules doesn’t seem like too much. The recipe didn’t say “prepared” coffee, but maybe that would have been a given back then. (After all, who drinks instant coffee any more so how would I know?)
Take it from someone who actually remembers yesteryear: the thickening problem you experienced with the pudding was due to a change in the product itself. Back then, pudding just did not set up as fast as current products do. You had to put it in the refrigerator for an hour or so to thicken.
Folks from my generation will remember something called Shake-A-Puddin’. It was something for kids–we put the pudding powder in a cup with some milk and shook it all up but then we had to put the cup in the fridge and wait for it to set up. I still make a sort pf Shake-A-Puddin’ now and then using a small Mason jar and part of a pudding mix packet but I can eat it immediately after shaking it up.
And also when a recipe calls for “prepared” it is meant to be understood that you get the item ready just as you would if you were going to use it. So, yes, that coffee should have been made up hot.
If you were to mix hot prepared coffee with the rest (and if you pudding didn’t set up so very fast), you’d have had quite a different beverage and the ice cream on top would have melted in quite nicely as you served it and become creamy. This could have been quite good back in the day.
Nope, I think it’s 1/4 cup granules, otherwise why would you need to blend the 1/2 cup milk in first *thoroughly* and then add the rest of the milk? Liquid coffee and milk don’t need thorough mixing; they sort of blend automatically. One to two teaspoons of granules was usual for a cup of coffee, but cups were around 5 oz back then. If you were drinking a pot of coffee a day, I don’t think the 2.5 teaspoons of granules per serving would have seemed unusual back then.
I make a version of this, only it’s a real drink. I have two methods.
1. Go to Starbucks, get a venti iced coffee, no cream or sweetener, with light I’ve in a trenta cup. Go to McDonald’s, or dairy Queen, and get a caramel Sunday. (I prefer caramel in my coffee, bit chocolate would obviously work well too ). Scoop the Sunday into the coffee cup. Enjoy. Until it melts together, the initial flavors are sweet ice cream followed by bitter coffee, and is amazingly refreshing. Also, since a plain iced coffee (not espresso) at Starbucks is only about three dollars, I can do a float for under five bucks, which is cheaper than a fancy coffee.
2. Make coffee. Chill it at home. Put a scoop of your favorite flavor ice cream in. Mix it up. Add another scoop. Drink. You don’t get the bitter/sweet thing you get from the take out version, but for some reason, I feel like the soft serve with a topping doesn’t need to be mixed (maybe it’s because the soft serve immediately melts just a little, which is just enough), but the flavor is amazing and just the right amount of sweet.
Those are my favorite summer drinks, a grown up version of a Coke float.
LOVED this post-I laughed so hard while reading it my kids thought there was something wrong with me! Also….does it really say “wild profession of homemaking” in that book? I’m dying here! (And yes, I myself am a homemaker so I’m not making fun of them) thank you for such an entertaining post-it really picked up my day 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it, Amanda!!!