I’m not really much of a chocolate guy. At restaurants, when it comes time for dessert I’ll almost always opt for the fruit option. I am human though, and I do get an occasional chocolate craving. Perhaps it’s my body protesting all the times I’ve turned down the chocolate choice, but when the urge hits, I need an IV drip of chocolate stat!
Chocolate pudding is about the closest thing I can think of to an IV of chocolate. It’s spoonable and yet the moment the silken pudding hits your warm tongue, it liquifies into a pool of creamy chocolate decadence. This will sate even the most assiduous chocolate craving. Unfortunately, like most good things in life, your bowl of chocolate pudding will be quickly depleted, and it takes great restraint to stop yourself from getting a refill.
Elitists may argue that a pot de creme is a superior way of delivering chocolate into your system, but I say nay. First of all, this chocolate pudding only takes about 15 minutes to make. I’d like to see someone pull off a 15 minute pot de creme.
Secondly, if you ate as much pot de creme as you want to, you’d probably fall dead on the spot of a heat attack. I’m not saying that this chocolate pudding is heathy, but being made from milk instead of cream helps, and being set with a combination of eggs and cornstarch instead of just eggs cuts back on the cholesterol. At least that’s what I tell myself as I lift spoon after spoon of this addiction inducing pudding into my mouth.
I made this chocolate pudding with Scharffen Berger cocoa and Valrhona chocolate, but any high quality chocolate and cocoa will do (and no, Hershey’s and Nestle don’t count as high quality). I also used chocolate buttons, which saves you time because they don’t need to be chopped first. Once made, this chocolate pudding will keep for up to a week in the fridge, and it makes great trifles with fresh rasberries or bananas.
Chocolate Pudding
makes 6-8 servings
2 cups whole milk
5 extra large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons cocoa powder5 ounces dark chocolate (70%)
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Put the milk in a small sauce pan over medium heat until it’s steaming and there are small bubbles coming up around the edges (but not boiling).
Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment and beat at medium high speed until the eggs are a shiny pale yellow color (about 2 minutes). Add the cornstarch and cocoa and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
With the mixer running over low speed, slowly drizzle the hot milk in along the edge of the bowl, being careful not to splash the hot milk. Once the mixture is smooth, rinse your pan out (get rid of any milk solids that have formed) and put the mixture back in the pan over medium low heat. Stir constantly with a heat-proof silicon spatula until the mixture is very thick being careful to scrape the whole bottom of the pan as you mix so your pudding doesn’t burn.
Remove the chocolate pudding from the heat, then add the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is melted and combined. Finish with the cream, butter and vanilla and stir to combine. Serve the pudding warm or let it cool off and refrigerate in an airtight container.
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