Chocolate Pudding

In an effort to make this picture more exciting, I included my lovely cat gargoyle.

Usually I try to have a balance of things in my blog - unhealthy delicious baked goods, healthy baked goods, meals and the occasional dip or something. But recently all I seem to be posting about is baked goods! Not because I eat cookies and pudding for dinner but because my dinners haven't been that exciting and worth posting about. But no one can deny the excitement of baked goods, right?

Actually I'm not a huge pudding fan but my boyfriend is so I made this for him and he quite loved it. I've also made Dorie's chocolate pots de creme, and I think I prefer those. I'm not sure why I prefer it though - maybe because it's more custard like or something. I think there's a fine line between pots de creme and pudding. But both are delicious. And though this chocolate pudding recipe was very smooth and chocolatey, I will look for another recipe that's less of a pain to make and doesn't involve a food processor. Though I guess I could just make this recipe and omit the food processor.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Intense Chocolate Fudge Cookies
Coconut Cream Pie
Raspberry and White Chocolate Pie
Chocolate Cookie Bark

Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours

2 1/4 cups whole milk
6 tbsp sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped, melted and still warm
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla

Have six ramekins or pudding cups, each holding 4 to 6 ounces (1/2 to 3/4 cup) at hand.

Bring 2 cups of the milk and 3 tablespoons of sugar to a boil in a medium pot.

While the milk is heating, put the cocoa, cornstarch and salt into a food processor and whir to blend. Dump it into a bowl. Put the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, the egg and egg yolks into the processor and blend for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the remaining 1/4 cup milk and pulse just to mix, then add the dry ingredients and pulse a few times to blend.

With the machine running, very slowly pour in the hot milk mixture. Process for a few seconds, then put everything back into the saucepan. Whisk without stopping over medium heat - making sure to get the edges of the pan - until the pudding thickens and a couple of bubbles burble up to the surface and pop (about 2 minutes but it might be shorter - take it off when it starts to seem thick). Lower the heat if necessary to prevent boiling.

Scrape the pudding back into the processor (if there's a scorched spot, avoid it as you scrape) and pulse a couple of times. Add the chocolate, butter and vanilla and pulse until everything is blended.

Pour the pudding into the ramekins. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.