Tapioca Pudding

My favorite for tapioca is Kat's recipe. She is quite right about the love/hate relationship. I hated tapioca the first time I had it when I was a kid. Some time in the last few years I've grown to love jelly balls - in all its forms - especially bubble tea. I had a hankering to make and eat some tapioca, so tried her recipe out. It was quite easy and tasty.

• 1/3 c tapioca
• ¾ c water
• ¼ c milk (that's all we had left)
• 2 c soy milk
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, separated
• ½ c brown sugar
• ½ t almond extract
• cinnamon
• 4 spice mix (I didn't feel like grating the whole nutmeg, so used this powder instead)
• raisins (next time I'd reduce the sugar, as the raisins add a sweetness of their own)
  
• 1/3 Granny Smith apple, chopped (good for texture)
  
• ~1/4 c grated coconut (I didn't put much of this in and didn't taste it - could leave it out)

1. Soak tapioca in water for 30 minutes in a medium saucepan.
2. Add milk, salt, and egg yolks and whisk to blend.
3. Over medium heat, continue to stir the mixture until it comes to a boil. Turn the heat all the way down and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until tapioca softens. (For this step I didn't read her directions that carefully - I actually just let it cook for 10 minutes total, before coming to a boil - the variety of tapioca I got actually cooks in 7 - there was another box of Japanese kind that took 15 min.)
4. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until they are foamy, add the sugar gradually and beat until soft peaks form.
5. Fold in about ¾ cup of the hot tapioca mixture to the egg whites to temper them and then fold the egg whites back into the tapioca in the saucepan. Whisk over medium heat for 3 minutes.
6. Add raisins, coconut, and apple pieces.
7. Cool for about 10 minutes and then add the extract and spices. Serve warm or chilled.

Variations
The possibilities are endless. Kat gives a lot of suggestions in her blog entry.