Chocolate

That's not how you make pudding!

6/26/2007 08:05:00 PM


Well, apparently it is. Let me explain.

Last week, I was speaking to a good friend on the phone, who asked me if I could make her a chocolate pudding. I immediately got very excited, and was, in my mind, tossing up between Bill Granger's molten chocolate puddings, Nigella's chocohotopots, her chocolate molten babycakes, her gooey chocolate puddings, her sticky chocolate pudding... and any of the other zillion hot chocolate pudding recipes that seem to grace every magazine cover at this time of year. Crusty on the oustide, melting within, deep and darkly chocolatey. Served with a scoop of slowly melting vanilla ice-cream. Wonderful.

Now, imagine my surprise when she told me that what she actually wanted was some sort of strange, cold, gloopy construction - an American pudding. My response was, "I'm not making that crap! We could just by a yogo or a milo snack at the supermarket!" Of course, I was then plagued with guilt, and following our conversation decided to google a recipe for these strange chocolate puddings. Sometimes I allow friendship to overcome personal culinary prejudice, you see. Sometimes.

I ended up using Mindy Merrel's recipe for Sunday night chocolate pudding on the American Profile website, which had the virtues of being simple to make and containing easy-to-find ingredients. (Recipe below). All you gotta do is a bit of whisking, some stirring, some pouring, and you're done! You can eat it warm, or leave it in the fridge, closely covered with glad-wrap. Both are good.


I served the pudding with fresh strawberries, but a crisp biscuit would also be a nice accompaniment. Surprisingly, the puddings tasted quite good. This was probably because I used Lindt dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids... it was the only dark chocolate I had on hand. (I'm not pretentious, I just like good food. Repeat to self 10 times). However, I must say the end product seemed cheaper than the combined ingredients. But I suppose that was the point of the exercise. Oh well. In a similar contrast, I served the puddings in my new lovely French Pullivuyt serving dishes. I'm the Alain Ducasse of the Eastern suburbs! Haha!



Sunday Night Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients
5 tablespoons cornflour

3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3 cups full-cream milk
4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Whipped cream, if desired
Toasted almonds, pecans, or walnuts, if desired

Method
Combine cornflour, sugar, and salt with 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl; whisk to blend well. Heat remaining 2 1/2 cups milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate and let sit 5 minutes or until chocolate is melted. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in cornstarch mixture. Return to heat and cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken and boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer about 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Pour into a medium bowl or six to eight 6-ounce custard cups. Cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic touches the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of nuts, if desired.

Serves 6 to 8.

You Might Also Like

5 comments

  1. Anonymous11:52 PM

    Yes, that's the kind of chocolate pudding we eat here in the U.S. And it's good! At least your friend didn't demand that you make it out of a mix.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Sarah,

    I love your blog and those serving dishes! They are lovely.

    Since I myself haven't done much with making puddings, what's the difference between your normal puddings and the American-style pudding you made? The pudding you made here does look just like what we Americans would make out of a JELL-O boxed pudding mix. But don't knock the mixes--the pistashio pudding mix is excellent (and QUICK!). I just might have to make myself some pudding tonight... ;-)

    Keep blogging! Your cooking tales are fabulous reading!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, don't knock American style choc. pudding!! Try Martha Stewarts version. Its really, really good!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. **Image of Homer Simpson salivating**

    Mmmmm delicious as always Sarah.

    P.S. It is OK to like good food. You're not alone. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I tired pudding for the first time earlier this year - a butterscotch one - and I thought it was gorgeous! Chocolate and vanilla puddings are on my list :)

    You HAVE to serve them in pretty dishes :) :)

    ReplyDelete

CONTACT ME

My email address is sarahcooks [at] hotmail [dot] com.