Fancy Monkey

I was standing in the grocery store the day it hit me. I had a box of instant pudding in my hand — the same kind I grew up on — and as I turned it over and read the back, I caught myself thinking, maybe I could make this a little better. I've been a pastry chef for 35 years, so I had a feeling about what was missing. I didn't set out to start anything. I just went home and started playing around. I swapped the powder for real vanilla beans. I pared the ingredients down to what truly belonged. And I kept after that creamy, glossy, spoon-standing-up texture until it came together in two minutes with nothing but cold milk — and somewhere along the way, it turned into five flavors I really loved: Vanilla, Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Banana, and Lemon. What surprised me was everything it could do. A good pudding mix turns out to be the quiet workhorse of the kitchen — it's the secret to a cake that stays unbelievably moist, lemon curd without the fuss, cookies that stay soft in the middle for days. One little pouch, and suddenly you're making all kinds of things that taste iconic and nostalgic, the way the best treats always do. I've been lucky to do this work for a long time — I had a little brand years ago called Ice Box Bakery, I've run Lucky's Bakehouse for 16 years, and I've helped develop recipes for other brands too. Fancy Monkey just feels like the most joyful thing I've gotten to make yet. It's instant pudding and dessert mix, made the way I'd make it for someone I love — vegan, non-GMO, gum free, simple ingredients, and honestly just really good.