Existential pudding

Last night, I had the dilemma of having pudding and yet not having pudding. Because I had made pudding, but it was not yet chilled and ready to eat. So this morning I had pudding for breakfast.  I am not ashamed.

A sliced banana and home made chocolate pudding

The recipe after the jump.  And don't forget! Today is the last day to comment and enter my yarn giveaway here, and my stitch marker giveaway over in my Ravelry group.



Chocolate Pudding -   8-10 servings
200g sugar (1c of granulated; or 200g powdered sugar if like me that's all you have on hand. 200g of powdered sugar is a lot more than 1c, however)
75g cocoa (3/4c)
160g water  (3/4c)
60-100g bittersweet chocolate, chips or broken up into small pieces (1/3-1/2c or so; more chocolate = sweeter and darker)
4c milk
50g cornstarch (1/2c; use a small spoonful less if using powdered sugar with cornstarch added, icing sugar in some countries doesn't contain cornstarch)
1 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsp tasty spirits - optional (I used dark rum)
1 tsp fruit essence - optional (I used steam extracted unsweetened raspberry syrup/paste)

Mix the sugar and the cocoa together in a pot or large saucepan so there are no lumps of cocoa. If using powdered sugar, make sure to sift the cocoa since the powdered sugar won't be able to pummel the clumps out.

Add the water to the cocoa mixture and cook over medium heat until it's smooth and combined.  Take it off the heat and stir in the chocolate. Let it sit a bit and then stir it until it's smooth. The residual heat should be enough to melt the chocolate.

Add about 3c of milk to the pot and then mix the cornstarch with the rest of the milk and stir it until there are no lumps.  Add that to the pot as well, and then cook over medium high heat stirring constantly until it thickens.  Turn it down to medium and still stirring constantly, bring it to a bare simmer. It will be thick and difficult to tell if it's simmering, so just until it trembles from bubbles if you don't stir it constantly.

Take it off the heat and stir in the vanilla and any other optional flavorings.  Portion into cups or pour into a bowl and chill until completely cold before serving.  If placed in the fridge when it's still hot with a cover, there will be condensation. So I like to put a towel under the plate I use to cover the bowl.  Another option is to place plastic wrap against the surface and pierce it with a sharp knife in places to let the steam out. But that leaves one with pudding covered plastic wrap!  Or simply don't cover it until it's cooled down some.

I'm the only one in my family who really likes pudding, it's a texture thing, so I'm thinking of making frozen pudding with this. This pudding is strong enough in flavor to hold up to freezing, and the texture should result in a lovely, decadent chocolate "ice cream". I have my Donvier ice cream cylinder in the freezer getting nice and cold.  This is very exciting, I haven't made ice cream in years!