There is nothing
like a homemade Chocolate Pudding with its velvety smooth texture and deep
chocolate flavor. I love everything about it and if you have always used those
small boxes of commercially made puddings that contain preservatives and other
things that are not good for you, than you are in for a treat. Homemade
chocolate pudding is easy to prepare and what makes it so perfect is that most,
if not all, of the ingredients you will already have in your cupboards, things
like milk, cream, sugar, eggs, cocoa powder, and chocolate. And while some may
think of puddings as old fashioned, when you serve this dessert in pretty bowls
with a large dollop of whipped cream and a stemmed maraschino cherry on top,
there is no better way to end a meal.
This chocolate pudding is made with both Dutch-processed cocoa
powder and semisweet chocolate. It is like the vanilla and butterscotch
puddings, in that when you make a chocolate pudding what you are really doing is making a 'cooked' chocolate
custard. The only real difference is that you add cornstarch (corn flour)
to a pudding recipe and this is done to make it thick enough to eat with a spoon. The danger zone
with any pudding is cooking it over too high a heat causing lumps or even worse,
scorching. To avoid these pitfalls use a heavy bottomed saucepan and cook
it over medium low heat, stirring constantly with a large heatproof rubber
spatula. Make sure when stirring you reach the bottom, sides and corners
of the saucepan to prevent the pudding from sticking and scorching. As you
cook the pudding it may look lumpy but if you stir quickly the lumps should
smooth out. Once the pudding has become thick, like mayonnaise, remove
immediately from the heat. Straining the pudding will help get rid of any lumps that may have formed. Once you have added the chopped chocolate, vanilla and butter avoid over mixing the
ingredients as the pudding is quite fragile at this stage. If you like
your chocolate pudding warm, then by all means eat it right away. But if
you like your pudding cold, simply press plastic wrap
onto the surface of the puddings and refrigerate until firm (a couple of hours). For those who like a skin (film) on the top of their pudding, let the pudding cool
uncovered and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Chocolate
Pudding: In a large stainless steel
(heatproof) bowl whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt. Then
whisk in 1/2 cup (120 ml) of the milk until you have a thick paste. Add
the egg yolks, one at a time, whisking to blend into the cocoa paste mixture. Set aside while you heat the milk and cream. Have
a fine medium-sized strainer and bowl ready near the stove as you will need to
strain the pudding after it is cooked.
First, rinse a medium-sized
heavy saucepan
with cold water and then shake out the excess water. Doing this step prevents
the milk from scorching. Then pour in the remaining 2 cups (480 ml) milk with the cream. Bring this
mixture just to a boil and then remove from heat. (The milk will foam up
to the top of pan when done, so watch carefully.) Gradually pour the
milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the pudding mixture to a clean large, heavy bottomed saucepan and place over medium-low
heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens to the
consistency of mayonnaise (about 3 - 5 minutes). Remove from heat and pour
through the strainer to remove any lumps that may have formed during cooking.
Add the finely chopped
chocolate, vanilla extract, and butter, stirring gently with a rubber spatula
until the mixture is smooth. Pour into 6 to 8 bowls or wine glasses. Can serve warm or if chilling, press plastic wrap onto the surface of the warm
puddings to prevent a skin from forming. If you are a person who likes the
skin on their pudding, simply leave the pudding uncovered until cooled and then
cover with plastic wrap. Can be made a day or two ahead of serving.
If you are like me, no
chocolate pudding is complete without a large dollop of softly whipped cream.
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