Good morning, all! Do anything lovely this weekend? We were busy healing up at home (boyfriend had his wisdom teeth out) and out of all of the squishy foods I made, including this remarkable Zucchini Vichyssoise from Ina Garten, he loved the chocolate pudding the best! Surprising, since the man generally dislikes chocolate, but I'll take it (read: I'll take any opportunity to lick a pudding bowl)!
Last week I told you about how I lost my chocolate pudding recipe, so I decided to try this one from Smitten Kitchen. It's super basic: whisk milk, sugar and cornstarch over a double-boiler until thick, stir in chocolate until melted. So easy! I love that. I played around a bit to get it just how I like it. Here's what I ended up with...
SIMPLE CHOCOLATE PUDDING
SERVES: 6
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
Generous pinch or two of salt
2 cups whole milk
1 cup light cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate cups (about 1/2 bag)
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped cream, for serving
1. Whisk the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a large heatproof bowl. Slowly whisk in the milk and cream, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl until smooth. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water) and heat, whisking occasionally as lumps form, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the chocolate chips and stir until they melt and the pudding is smooth and thick, 2 to 4 more minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla.
2. For super smooth pudding, strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Divide among individual serving cups, if desired. Press place plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding to prevent a pudding “skin” from forming (skip this if you like the skin!) and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days. Serve topped with whipped cream.
