Chocolate Pudding - Everyday Annie

After making butterscotch pudding a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been wanting more – pudding, that is. Not only do I enjoy it, but my little man absolutely loves it. And I just love to make him smile. Even if he doesn’t get to eat dessert every night, it is fun to see how excited he gets about pudding. This is the chocolate pudding I’ve been making for years, but I haven’t shared it on the blog before. There’s not much to it with a very short ingredient list and little time required. The texture of this is just right to me – creamy and chocolatey but rather light tasting so you don’t feel weighed down after indulging. The type of milk you use isn’t hugely important, but I tend to steer clear of skim as I just don’t think it yields good results in recipes like this. I tend to use 2%, whole milk, or a combination since that is what we have around. One serving of this is more than enough for me, so Andrew and I like to split a cup. Pudding dates with my little guy are such fun.

Yield 6-8 servings

Ingredients

¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
4 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
Whipped cream, for serving

Directions

01
In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Set aside. Combine the milk and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until small bubbles form around the edges. Add the chopped chocolate to the saucepan and stir with a spatula until the chocolate is melted, about 1-2 minutes. (The chocolate may appear slightly speckled and not completely melted. Don’t worry, it will smooth out later.)
02
Ladle about a quarter of the warm milk mixture into the bowl with the sugar mixture; whisk until smooth. Whisk in the remaining milk mixture. Return the entire mixture to the saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook, stirring with a spatula, until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan so the mixture does not burn. Continue to cook until the mixture is very thick, about 2 minutes. (To test, run a finger through the mixture on the back of a spatula – it should leave a distinct trail.)
03
Divide the pudding between 6-8 serving dishes. Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool 30 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill and set completely, at least 2 hours. Remove plastic wrap, top with whipped cream as desired, and serve.

Source

Williams Sonoma