Yesterday, I had a rare and random craving for chocolate pudding. And not just any chocolate pudding. It had to be warm, homemade chocolate pudding. When I asked the kids if they wanted some, they sounded kind of "Meh" about it. Eli helped me make it, and when I let him lick the spoon, he couldn't stop exclaiming how good it was.
When Noah tasted it, his face lit up and he said, "This is like dessert! Actual DESSERT!" I laughed, and said, "What do you think chocolate pudding is? Of course it's dessert!" Sadly, both of the boys had only ever experienced Snack Pack pudding cups (and "Get Well Pudding", for which I will have to post the recipe another time). Eating the homemade pudding yesterday opened up a new world of dessert for them--I found their reactions pretty funny.
If you eat this pudding while it's still warm, about 15 minutes after cooling, it tastes just like the center of a lava cake. To make it extra heavenly, add a big dollop of whipped cream on top.
Anyway, here is my recipe for "lava cake" pudding. (In full disclosure, this is actually just homemade chocolate pudding. But when you eat it warm, you will think you died and went to lava cake heaven. I'm sure if I'd asked the kids if they wanted "lava cake pudding" instead of "chocolate pudding", they would have reacted completely differently.)
Don't let the photo fool you--I'm not a food photographer, so this is as pretty as it gets, haha.
Click here for a printer-friendly version
Chocolate Lava Cake Pudding (makes 4 servings)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. corn starch
2 cups milk (I use whole milk)
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. butter
(optional) whipped cream, for topping
Separate two eggs and discard the whites. Put the yolks in a bowl, stir until smooth, and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa powder, and cornstarch. Before turning on the heat, whisk in the milk slowly (make sure it combines with the cornstarch before pouring all of the milk in, otherwise you will end up with clumps of cornstarch).
Once the milk is stirred in, turn the heat on to medium-high. Keep whisking frequently until the mixture comes to a boil. Carefully pour about half of the mixture into the bowl of egg yolks, and stir well, then pour the yolk mixture back into the pan and stir it all together.
Bring it back to a boil and cook for about 30-60 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Divide among four bowls. Let it set for 15-20 minutes to eat while it's warm (or put the bowls in the fridge and wait until it's chilled.
Then just listen to your kids exclaim that they didn't know chocolate pudding was a *real* dessert ;)
Yum!!
ReplyDeleteI have never in my life made pudding from scratch and I was so interested in seeing how it's made! I bet it's much better than the Jello Pudding box, which is the only thing I've ever made and not in many many years!
ReplyDelete