Alright, decided to tackle a farina dessert today. Had a box of farina just sitting in the cupboard, you know how it is. Figured I’d make something simple, comforting.
Getting Started
First things first, I grabbed the ingredients I thought I’d need. Didn’t really use a strict recipe, more like going by feel.
- The box of farina, obviously.
- Milk, probably about a litre, maybe a bit less? Pulled the carton out of the fridge.
- Sugar. Just the regular white stuff.
- A bit of butter.
- Vanilla extract for flavor.
- Cinnamon for dusting later, maybe.
Got out a medium-sized saucepan, a whisk, and a wooden spoon. That seemed like enough to get the job done.
Cooking Process
Okay, so I poured most of the milk into the saucepan. Held a bit back just in case. Put the pan on the stove, turned the heat to medium-low. Didn’t want it scorching right away.
While the milk was warming up, I measured out the farina. Probably used about, hmm, maybe three-quarters of a cup? I slowly started sprinkling the farina into the warming milk, whisking constantly. This is the important bit, gotta keep it moving to avoid clumps. Learned that the hard way before. Whisk, whisk, whisk.
Once all the farina was in, I switched to the wooden spoon. Added the sugar. How much? I just poured some in, stirred, tasted, added a bit more. Probably ended up using half a cup, maybe a little more. Kept stirring.
The mixture started to thicken up pretty fast. You gotta keep stirring, especially scraping the bottom so it doesn’t stick and burn. Lowered the heat a bit more. Let it bubble gently for maybe 5 minutes? Maybe 7? Just until it looked thick like a proper porridge or pudding.
Turned off the heat. Then I dropped in a knob of butter, maybe a tablespoon’s worth, and a splash of vanilla extract. Stirred that through until the butter melted and everything was mixed nicely. The kitchen started smelling pretty good at this point.
Finishing Up
I grabbed a shallow glass dish, maybe an 8×8 inch size. Poured the hot farina mixture straight in. Smoothed the top a little with the back of the spoon. It wasn’t perfectly smooth, but good enough.
Then, the waiting game. Left it on the counter to cool down for a bit, maybe 30 minutes, so it wasn’t steaming hot. Afterwards, I covered it loosely with plastic wrap and popped it into the fridge.
Checked it after a few hours. It was firm to the touch. Perfect. Took it out, cut it into rough squares right in the dish. Dusted some cinnamon over the top because why not.
And that was it. A simple farina dessert, ready to eat. Tasted pretty decent, nice and comforting. Job done.
