I don't know why, but the past few weeks, I've had mad cravings for chocolate pudding. Super creamy, rich, deep, dark chocolate pudding. I'm a bit ashamed to admit we normally buy Hershey's chocolate pudding cups because, well, they're easy and good and Costco carries them. But then it occurred to me - you know, I bet I could make my own even better. I have all the ingredients, so why not? I could make a big batch on Sundays and we could have a half a cup (pudding cups are 4oz. and it's always been enough to satisfy me) for dessert every night.
So last week, I Googled "chocolate pudding recipe" and found a lot of recipes that used egg yolks that required tempering. I really didn't want to deal with all that, so I added "-egg yolks" because, you know, you can do that. I came across... Surprise! A recipe on the Hershey's cocoa website. It was only a few ingredients and didn't see, time consuming, so I made it - at 3am. Yeah, that's when I normally get the desire to make something like pudding. Some reviewers had said it was runny while others didn't seem to have an issue with it, so I made it as-is except I used a combination of regular cocoa and dark cocoa powders. Well, sure enough, it was runny even after chilling.
The next day, I decided to try and salvage it by making a slurry of milk and the same amount of cornstarch it had originally called for. I didn't want to dirty a pan, so I nuked it. I figured if it didn't turn out, no big deal. It tasted good otherwise, so next time I'd just double the cornstarch. To my surprise, it thickened up and all was well... Until it was gone the next day.
I've made this pudding three times now and each time, I tweak it just a little. This incarnation, I think, is my final product and it's damn good for a simple pudding. Deeply chocolatey, rich, creamy. I actually prefer to eat it warm instead of chilled, but you can have it either way. Top it with whipped cream...or not. It's good regardless. It would also be good used as a filling for donuts or cake or in a trifle. It's infinitely better than nonfat pudding cups!
Really Good Chocolate Pudding
Makes about 2.5 cups
1/8 cup each regular and dark cocoa powders (I used Hershey's special dark)
OR 1/4 cup cocoa powder, any kind
6 tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 3/4 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cocoa powders, cornstarch, sugar, and salt until combined. Add whipping cream to make a paste. While whisking, slowly pour in milk until thoroughly combined and any lumps are gone. Cook pudding over medium heat, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula (see note below). Continue cooking until pudding thickens and remove from heat. Add vanilla and butter and stir to combine. Serve warm or chill, placing plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming (unless you like that kind of thing). If you choose not to use plastic wrap, cool pudding to room temp before covering and chilling to prevent condensation from forming.
Note: I'm impatient, so I usually turn my burner up to about 6-7 (of 10) in order to heat the pudding faster. Once it's hot, I lower the heat to 5 and continue cooking. Just make sure to stir constantly, scraping the sides and bottom of the pot to prevent burning or lumps. I've never had issues with lumpy pudding using this method.
