Growing up, chocolate pudding came from one place: a packet. But the bland packets were never really satisfying, and up until recently I had assumed chocolate pudding just wasn’t all that great. That all changed recently, when I sampled some pudding made from-scratch. I fell in love with the dessert and knew I just had to learn to make my own.
Nailing down just the right chocolate flavor was difficult. Not enough cocoa created a pudding lacking in flavor, while too much chocolate made the texture grainy. To compensate, a mixture of bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder was used. To thicken the recipe, we used cornstarch and a mixture of heavy cream and milk with three egg yolks. Keep reading below for this delicious recipe…
Amazing Chocolate Pudding
(makes 6-7 servings)
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 4oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine.
Directions
- Stir together the vanilla and espresso powder in a bowl and set aside. Whisk together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a large saucepan. Whisk in the yolks and cream until fully incorporated, scraping the corners of the saucepan. Whisk in the milk until incorporated.
- Place the saucepan on medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is thickened and bubbling (5 to 8 minutes). Cook an additional 30 seconds, then remove from heat and add butter and chocolate. Whisk until melted and fully incorporated. Whisk in the vanilla mixture.
- Pour the pudding through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Press a lightly greased sheet of parchment paper against the surface of the pudding and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Whisk pudding briefly before serving.
Recipe adapted fromSmitten Kitchen