Dark Chocolate Pudding | Everyday Dorie

You’d lick your spoon clean with this creamy dark chocolate pudding. That what Dorie says how her Paris friends do it (while thinking it’s the equivalent of pastry cream). I didn’t think I’d lick the spoon, but my daughter and I both did just that. Never mind the fact that I use these tiny and cute spoons, which shape like lollipods, to serve the pudding.

You can find this recipe on page 294 in Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan. A simpler version can be found here on her website. Meanwhile, you don’t find many pudding recipes on this blog and we’re gradually building up the category of custard and pudding. The ease of making them and the soft and creamy texture are compelling. Don’t forget: it is company worthy too!

Pudding is nothing but a cooked custard thickened with a little cornstarch and eggs. All you need is 1) a medium saucepan for cooking the milk and cream, 2) a large bowl for whisking the eggs, together with sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt, and 3) another bowl for the melted bittersweet chocolate and butter.

When Dorie serves the dark chocolate pudding to company, she puts in an extra step of smoothing the custard with an immersion blender. That has the effect of further silkening the texture. This is entirely optional. I skip the extra step as well as the last step in which she strains the milk and egg mixture before combining it with the melted chocolate — without much ill effect. Since I make a third of the recipe for two, I like to use every spoonful of the ingredients. In addition, there are no extra strainer and dishes to wash.

After chilling the cooked pudding for 4 hours, we have them as an after-dinner dessert. What a sweet and satisfying treat! Even the cups are thoroughly spoon-cleaned. That’s how much we enjoy the dark chocolate pudding.