Chocolate Pudding with a Little Kick

We were driving back from Emeryville on Friday, after eating some extremely delicious sandwiches from the Vesta Flatbread truck. I was torturing poor Sean with my recent fascination with 1970s radio hits (the 60s, 70s, and 80s radio station on Pandora is my new favorite thing). KC and the Sunshine Band came on the radio, and all I could think of were Jell-O commercials. And then, then I wanted pudding. My brain works in mysterious ways.

As soon as we got home I went to the market for cornstarch and milk and chocolate, and although I had to wait three hours for it to chill, it handily satisfied my pudding craving. Unfortunately, it is now satisfying the briefest, most fleeting cravings I might have for sweets, those cravings that I know would disappear if I didn’t have this amazing bowl of pudding in my refrigerator. Even more dangerously, I now know how easy it is to make more.

I was always under the impression that pudding was a culinary challenge. I’m going to blame Beverly Cleary’s Mitch and Amy, a book I read often as a child. There’s a very messy pudding-making scene somewhere in here, if I am remembering correctly. I always thought something was sure to go horribly awry, and that I’d end up with a dreadful mess on my hands. But no, this pudding was quick, mess-free, and very easy. And this is some dang good pudding.

This isn’t light and airy pudding. This is dense and rich and incredibly smooth. It’s got a little kick, because I used chocolate with chiles. It’s best served in a very small bowl, with a small spoon, so you can savor it in small bites. This pudding does not mess around. Having never had pudding that didn’t originate as powder, I had no idea it could be like this. If you’ve never had real, homemade pudding, do not hesitate. Make yourself some tonight. You will not regret it. Your thighs might regret it, but you, you will not.

For Serious Chocolate Pudding
This recipe was adapted from a 2007 Gourmet recipe for Milk Chocolate Pudding. I used 2 ounces of Taza chocolate with Guajillo chiles and 2 ounces of Dagoba Dark Chocolate. If you want more kick (it is very, very subtle) use a chocolate with chiles for the entire 4 ounces of chocolate. I recommend using very good chocolate here; it will make this an even more amazing experience.

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 4 ounces of your favorite good, dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and a healthy pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the cream and milk, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium to medium-high heat. Continue whisking the entire time it is coming to a boil, and once it begins boiling, let it boil, while whisking, for two minutes. This will thicken up and smell kind of amazing, but it gets even better.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, and whisk in the chopped chocolate and the vanilla extract. Whisk until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer the pudding to a bowl, press a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap over the top (to prevent it developing a skin) and let it chill for at least two hours, or until its cold all the way through.

You can serve this with whipped cream if you like, but I prefer pure, unadulterated chocolate. And yes, you will want to lick the pan.