A Gluten Free Vanilla Cream Pudding

copyright 2011 art of living,PrimaMedia,Inc/Maria Liberati
Much to my surprise many  people in Italy also have celiac disease.  While entertaining at the country house and wanting to be the perfect hostess for many of the guests that have to eat gluten free I  have had to spend some time in the test kitchens here coming up with suitable recipes.  And you don’t have to have celiac disease to enjoy them. This a dessert perfect for any Italian kitchen but gluten free..let me know what you think. Best of all it uses a vanilla pod!
 
Vanilla Cream Pudding
*3 cups milk
*3 cups fresh cream
*2 1/2 cups sugar
*12 eggs
*4 egg yolks
*1/2 vanilla pod
*Peel of one lemon. (Remove peel in large pieces)
*2 tsps Strega
*2 tsps Sambuca
*pinch of salt
First caramelize the sugar by placing 1 cup sugar with a few tsps of water in a sauce pan and let the sugar caramelize, stirring constantly. Set aside. Place milk and cream with vanilla stick and lemon peel pieces in a sauce pan. Heat and boil for 3 minutes. In a bowl, mix eggs,egg yolks, sugar,pinch of salt. Add in Strega and Sambuca, then add in milk/cream mixture (lemon peel and vanilla stick removed). Add in caramellized sugar and place mixture in large baking dish. Place baking dish in a larger baking dish filled with water and bake for 50 minutes in oven preheated to 400 degrees.
For more great recipes get your copy of the Award Winning Book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking: Holidays & Special Occasions-2nd edition