Chocolate Pudding

This chocolate pudding is a recipe you need to add to your “to-bake” list. My husband was craving something sweet this weekend, even though I had just made him a batch of Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies! I went rummaging through my cookbooks, and discovered this “healthy” chocolate pudding recipe from a cookbook my mom bought me for Christmas: Cooking Light Way to Bake: The Complete Visual Guide to Healthy Baking – delicious recipes, fresh healthy ingredients, smart tools & techniques.

Chocolate pudding is the perfect dessert to make for my husband for two reasons:

He LOVES chocolate
He LOVES chocolate pie, but HATES the crust (crazy, I know!)

Well, this dessert was a winner! The pudding was smooth, extra thick, extra creamy, and had a nice milk-chocolate taste you would expect from any good custard. It is also considered “healthy” since the recipe calls for fat-free milk instead of whole milk, and only 2 teaspoons of butter.

I would also recommend this pudding as a lunch-substitute… and here is why: I gave my Dad a container of chocolate pudding when he came to visit me at work yesterday. Before arriving, he had been to the dentist to fill a cavity. His mouth was still partially numb from the novocaine, so he skipped lunch. Later than evening when he called me, I asked if he had tried the pudding.

He responded, “It’s gone.”

“What do you mean it’s gone?” I asked.

“I ate it all.” He said.

To my surprise, I found out that he had eaten almost all of the pudding for lunch and said that it was outstanding! Makes since to me…when my mouth is sore or numb, the first thing I want to eat is pudding.

Before I give you the step-by-step instructions, here are some final tips, found in Cooking Light Way to Bake, about making pudding.

Recommendations:

Tempering is a process that combines a hot liquid with a cool one, protecting the delicate eggs from coagulating/clumping too quickly. (Be very careful…I nearly coagulated my eggs!)
Pudding is thick enough with it coats the back of spoon.
Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a thin, rubbery skin from developing on top.

P.S. Sorry about the photographs. The lighting in my kitchen would not cooperate with my camera this time!

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl.

Combine 1/2 cup milk and egg yolks, stirring well with a whisk.

Add egg yolk mixture to sugar mixture, stirring well.

Temper egg yolk mixture with milk, then pour into milk mixture. Return pan to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 minute.

Add chocolate, vanilla, and butter. Pour pudding into individual ramekins and refrigerate until chilled.

Top with a dollop of whipped cream!

Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups fat-free milk, divided
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large egg yolks
2 tsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions
1. Place 2 cups milk in a medium, heavy saucepan; bring to a boil. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
2. Combine remaining 1/2 cup milk and egg yolks, stirring well a whisk. Add egg yolk mixture to sugar mixture, stirring well. Gradually add half of hot milk to egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk.
3. Return milk mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
4. Add butter, vanilla, and chocolate, stirring until butter and chocolate melt.
5. Spoon pudding into a bowl. Place bowl in a large ice-filed bowl for 15 minutes or until pudding cools, stirring occasionally. (I skipped this step.) Cover surface of pudding with plastic wrap; chill.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1/2 cup)
Recipe from: Cooking Light Way to Bake: The Complete Visual Guide to Healthy Baking – delicious recipes, fresh healthy ingredients, smart tools & techniques

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