creamy chocolate pudding
I’m starting with chocolate pudding — a little obsession of my husbands. He’s a big lover of the snack packs and in my somewhat pretentious disdain for the one-noted goop filled cartons I let him grab them without the faintest thought of making it for him myself. I’m not a big chocolate lover to begin with (surely I must be damaged) and pudding, frankly, is just not that wow-ing to make me change my mind on chocolate or the fact that pudding is boring. It reminds me of school lunches and a childhood bereft of excellent chocolate goods, my own damaged fault I’m sure. But here I am, trying to be a thoughtful un-standard-male-like girl and wife and it struck me that I could make him something so much greater and deeper and intense than the instant packages we very rarely bring home.
I immediately turned to Cooks Illustrated after remembering an article they had last fall about their journey through a myriad of different homemade puddings. They went through the whole gamut — The Joy of Cooking, The New York Times Cookbook, a blog-hyped recipe from Scharffen Berger, and The Betty Crocker’s Cookbook — picking apart each until they came to the perfect combination of rich chocolate flavor and a thick silky texture. Some might balk at the two different chocolates, the necessity of cornstarch and egg yolks or the miniscule extra calories from the addition of heavy cream, but without these things you will not get a deeply chocolate pudding (that requires only a saucepan, bowl and whisk) that is decadent enough to be considered by even the pudding shunner (err, me) worthy of a place in her heart.
Creamy Chocolate Pudding
Cooks Illustrated
Serves 6
CI recommends using one of their favorite dark chocolates — Callebaut Intense Dark Chocolate, L-60-40NV (yes, that’s the name; how uncreative) or Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bar. I used some leftover (and unlabeled) bittersweet Callebaut I picked up from Whole Foods. Being not the biggest chocolate fan I thought it was just as great as I’m sure some of the, err, more robotic names listed above would be. But if you are going to splurge a little on chocolate, this would be where you would do it — and it doesn’t take much so you could even snack on a piece or two as a reward for being so awesome.
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon table salt
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
Whipped cream, optional
Chocolate shavings, optional
Stir together vanilla and espresso powder in a small bowl; set aside. Whisk sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt together in a medium saucepan. Whisk in egg yolks and heavy cream until fully incorporated, making sure to scrape the corners of the saucepan. Whisk in milk until incorporated.
Place saucepan over medium heat; cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbling over entire surface. 5 to 8 minutes (this took more like 12 minutes for me.) Cook 30 seconds longer, remove from heat, add butter and chocolate, and whisk until melted and fully incorporated. Whisk in vanilla mixture.
Pour pudding through fine mesh strainer into bowl. Press plastic wrap against surface of pudding (to prevent pudding skin), and place in refrigerator to cool, at least 4 hours. Whisk pudding briefly and serve, garnishing with whipped cream and chocolate shavings if desired, which you do.
Conversions & Equivalents
Volume | Baking | Metric | Pan Size | Temperature | Oven | Other
1/2 teaspoon
=
30 drops
1 teaspoon
=
1/3 tablespoon OR 60 drops
3 teaspoon
=
1 tablespoon or 1/2 fluid ounce
1/2 tablespoon
=
1 1/2 teaspoons
1 tablespoon
=
3 teaspoons or 1/2 fluid ounce
2 tablespoons
=
1/8 cup or 1 fluid ounce
3 tablespoons
=
1 1/2 fluid ounces
4 tablespoons
=
1 1/4 cup or 2 fluid ounces
5 1/3 tablespoons
=
1/3 cup or 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
8 tablespoons
=
1/2 cup or 4 fluid ounces
10 2/3 tablespoons
=
2/3 cup or 10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
12 tablespoons
=
3/4 cup or 6 fluid ounces
16 tablespoons
=
1 cup or 8 fluid ounces or 1/2 pint
1/8 cup
=
2 tablespoons or 1 fluid ounce
1/4 cup
=
4 tablespoons or 2 fluid ounces
1/3 cup
=
5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
3/8 cup
=
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
1/2 cup
=
8 tablespoons or 4 fluid ounces
2/3 cup
=
10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
5/8 cup
=
1/2 cup + 2 teaspoons
3/4 cup
=
12 tablespoons or 6 fluid ounces
7/8 cup
=
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
1 cup
=
16 tablespoons or 1/2 pint or 8 fluid ounces
2 cups
=
1 pint or 16 fluid ounces
1 pint
=
2 cups or 16 fluid ounces
1 quart
=
2 pints or 4 cups or 32 fluid ounces
1 gallon
=
4 quarts or 8 pints or 16 cups or 128 fluid ounces
FLOUR
1 cup all-purpose flour
=
5 ounces or 142 grams
1 cup cake flour
=
4 ounces or 113 grams
1 cup whole wheat flour
=
5 1/2 ounces or 156 grams
SUGAR
1 cup granulated white sugar
=
7 ounces or 198 grams
1 cup packed brown sugar
=
7 ounces or 198 grams
1 cup confectioners sugar
=
4 ounces or 113 grams
COCOA POWDER
1 cup cocoa powder
=
3 ounces or 85 grams
BUTTER
4 tablespoons
=
1/2 stick or 1/4 cup or 2 ounces
8 tablespoons
=
1 stick or 1/2 cup or 4 ounces
16 tablespoons
=
2 sticks or 1 cup or 8 ounces
32 tablespoons
=
4 sticks or 2 cups or 1 pound
1/4 teaspoon
=
1.23 milliliters
1/2 teaspoon
=
2.46 milliliters
3/4 teaspoon
=
3.7 milliliters
1 teaspoon
=
4.93 milliliters
1 1/4 teaspoon
=
6.16 milliliters
1 1/2 teaspoon
=
7.39 milliliters
1 3/4 teaspoon
=
8.63 milliliters
2 teaspoon
=
9.86 milliliters
1 tablespoon
=
14.79 milliliters
2 tablespoons
=
29.57 milliliters
1/4 cup
=
59.15 milliliters
1/2 cup
=
118.3 milliliters
1 cup
=
236.59 milliliters
2 cups or 1 pint
=
473.18 milliliters
3 cups
=
709.77 milliliters
4 cups or 1 quart
=
946.36 milliliters
1/4 teaspoon
=
1.23 milliliters
4 quarts or 1 gallon
=
3.785 liters
PAN SIZE
VOLUME
CAN SUBSTITUTE WITH
1 8-inch round cake pan
4 cups
1 8x4-inch loaf pan
1 9-inch round cake pan
1 9-inch pie plate
2 8-inch round cake pans
8 cups
2 8x4-inch loaf pans
1 9-inch tube pan
2 9-inch round cake pans
1 10-inch bundt pan
1 11x7-inch baking dish
1 10-inch springform pan
1 9-inch round cake pan
6 cups
1 8-inch round cake pan
1 8x4-inch loaf pan
1 11x7-inch baking dish
2 9-inch round cake pans
12 cups
2 8x4-inch loaf pans
1 9-inch tube pan
2 8-inch round cake pans
1 10-inch bundt pan
2 11x7-inch baking dish
1 10-inch springform pan
1 10-inch round cake pan
11 cups
2 8-inch round cake pan
1 9-inch tube pan
1 10-inch springform pan
2 10-inch round cake pans
22 cups
5 8-inch round cake pans
3 or 4 9-inch round cake pans
2 10-inch spring form pan
9-inch tube pan
12 cups
2 8-inch round cake pans
2 9-inch round cake pans
1 10-inch bundt pan
10-inch tube pans
16 cups
3 9-inch round cake pans
2 10-inch pie plates
4 8-inch pie plates
2 9x5-inch loaf pans
2 8-inch square baking dishes
2 9-inch square baking dishes
10-inch bundt pan
12 cups
1 9x13-inch baking dish
2 9-inch round cake pans
1 9-inch tube pan
2 11x7-inch baking dishes
1 10-inch springform pan
11x7x2-inch baking dish
6 cups
1 8-inch square baking dish
1 9-inch square baking dish
1 9-inch round cake pan
9x13x2-inch baking dish
15 cups
1 10-inch bundt pan
2 9-inch round cake pans
3 8-inch round cake pans
1 10x15-inch jellyroll pan
10x15x1-inch jellyroll pan
15 cups
1 10-inch bundt pan
2 9-inch round cake pans
2 8-inch round cake pan
1 9x13-inch baking dish
9x5-inch loaf pan
8 cups
1 10-inch pie plate pan
1 8-inch square baking dish
1 9-inch square baking dish
8x4-inch loaf pan
6 cups
1 8-inch round cake pan
1 11x7-inch baking dish
9-inch springform pan
10 cups
1 10-inch round cake pan
1 10-inch spring form pan
2 8-inch round cake pans
2 9-inch round cake pans
10-inch springform pan
12 cups
2 8x4-inch loaf pan
1 9-inch tube pan
2 9-inch round cake pans
1 10-inch bundt pan
2 11x7-inch baking dishes
2 8-inch round cake pans
8-inch square baking dish
8 cups
1 9x5-inch loaf pan
2 8-inch pie plates
9-inch square baking dish
8 cups
1 11x7-inch baking dish
1 9x5-inch loaf pan
2 8-inch pie plate
Water Freezes
32°F
0°C
40°F
4.4°C
50°F
10°C
60°F
15.6°C
70°F
21.1°C
80°F
26.7°C
90°F
32.2°C
100°F
37.8°C
110°F
43.3°C
120°F
48.9°C
130°F
54.4°C
140°F
60°C
150°F
65.6°C
160°F
71.1°C
170°F
76.7°C
180°F
82.2°C
190°F
87.8°C
200°F
93.3°C
Water Boils
212°F
100°C
250°F
121°C
300°F
149°C
350°F
177°C
400°F
205°C
450°F
233°C
500°F
260°C
275°F
=
140°C or Gas Mark 1
300°F
=
150°C or Gas Mark 2
325°F
=
165°C or Gas Mark 3
350°F
=
180°C or Gas Mark 4
375°F
=
190°C or Gas Mark 5
400°F
=
200°C or Gas Mark 6
425°F
=
220°C or Gas Mark 7
450°F
=
230°C or Gas Mark 9
475°F
=
240°C or Gas Mark 10
And for conversions that are not listed I found a great conversion calculator here!
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So funny! My husband loves chocolate pudding, too, but he won’t eat the snack cups. He buys the box mix stuff. I may have to whip this up just to surprise him :)
I love pudding so much! These look awesome. My favorite of all time is banana creme pudding–with nila wafers. If you could make a fancy version of that, my life would be complete.