Chocolate pudding is rich, comforting, hearty, and fantastic. I happen to think I make the best chocolate pudding in the world and I am about to share all my secrets with you.
Let me preface this by saying that last weekend my sister and I made a chocolate cream pie; I say my sister and I because I cannot make pie crust. I am determined to master it someday but I am not there yet. My sister used this recipe and we all agree that it was nearly the best pie crust we've ever had. So make this crust, bake it off, and then use my chocolate pudding to fill it; add real whipped cream and you will have yourself a slice of heaven.
For more than a few years in a row, my sisters and I made 50+ pies in a span of 3 days for a July 4 celebration. We are all pie masters. As a result of this, I have memorized the pudding recipe and can make it anywhere on a moment's notice. It's not fool-proof, easy, or quick. It is worth it. You'll thank me later.
Ingredients:
1/3 Cup cornstarch
3 Cups milk
2/3 Cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
4 beaten egg yolks
2 oz excellent quality chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla
You need to do some prep work here. Melt your chocolate in a bowl and set aside (or use 3tbsp cocoa and 1 tbsp light oil per oz if you don't have chocolate. I always end up using more than 2 tbsp oil total to make the chocolate very easy to pour and therefore easier to mix into the pudding later). Put your egg yolks into a medium size bowl and give them a good whisk.
In your best pot (something that will heat evenly and hold heat well), put in the first 4 ingredients. I use whole milk if I am really indulging, organic skim milk if I am trying to be a little better. Regular skim milk is too watery and your pudding won't have the silky rich feeling to it. I have used soy milk; if you choose to, reduce the sugar by 1/3 cup. You now have 3 bowls of "stuff".
Put the pot on medium or medium low heat and start stirring. Stir gently; you're not beating up your food here, you're preventing any milk from sticking and making sure everything heats evenly and all the solids dissolve. I use a wooden spoon and make a very slow figure 8 in the pot, rotating the top of the 8 occasionally so I get the entire bottom of the pot. You have to do this until the whole mixture comes to a boil for 1 minute. It doesn't come to a rolling boil, just a steady glug-glug, one bubble at a time. How long does it take? It depends on the pot, the stove, etc. Anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. You'll know you're close when the milk takes on a foamy translucence, then it will thicken quickly. It will get VERY thick when it's boiling.
After the mixture has boiled for one minute, take it off the heat (but don't turn the stove off). take a few spoonfuls of the milk mixture and slowly pour it into the yolks, stirring the yolks as you do this (it helps to have a buddy for this part). This is tempering the yolks to heat them a little so they don't turn into scrambled eggs in your pudding. When the yolks are hot, add the whole thing back into the pudding pot, stir well, and bring to another boil on the stove. Glug-glug for 30 seconds. Keep stirring the pot constantly and a little more vigorously this time; this is when pudding will burn on very easily.
NOW you can turn the heat off and take the pot off the stove. Add the chocolate and the vanilla and stir stir stir.
Pour it into whatever you want (crust, serving bowl, etc.) and put a layer of plastic wrap directly on the top of the pudding, eliminating any air pockets you see (to prevent pudding skin; I'm not a fan). If you are making a pie, make sure the crust is cool before you pour the pudding in, otherwise the crust will get very mushy.
I think it was Martha Stewart who said that she pushes her pudding through a sieve when it is hot to remove the lumps--and yes, sometimes lumps happen. I don't bother. It's homemade pudding and just like homemade potatoes, sometimes they are lumpy. It's ok. This particular time, I didn't have a single lump (one near catastrophe I will never admit to but not lumps).
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