Back to Basics: Chocolate Pudding

Last week, I gave you lots of Valentine's Day posts (see gift guides 1 and 2, plus this amazing dinner recipe). In my mind, Valentine's Day isn't Valentine's Day without a really great chocolate dessert.

I love rich over the top dinners. They remind me of special dinners out with my family. Dinners where we would have to dress up, the waiter would bring us kids Shirley Temples to drink, and there was no real children's menu. These meals always ended with dessert--typically a rich, traditional dessert like chocolate mousse, creme brulee, or chocolate molten cake.

I recently went out to dinner at Chapeau! (the exclamation is their doing, not mine), and had an absolutely fabulous meal. Of course it ended with dessert, and while I loved my chocolate cake, I was unable to even eat half of it.

That's when I knew I made it. I was an adult. I already felt as if I needed to spend every night that coming week at Soul Cycle, and I knew that if I finished the dense and rich chocolate cake in front of me, I might need two straight weeks at Soul Cycle.

Luckily this chocolate pudding delivers in the great chocolate dessert department without making you feel as if your date needs to roll you home. Chocolate desserts, definitely sexy and Valentine's Day appropriate. Chocolate desserts that leave you in a sugar coma, definitely not sexy.

This pudding has tons of chocolate flavor (thanks to 6 oz of chopped chocolate) and is the grown-up version of the chocolate pudding you loved growing up.

In some ways, it's pure nostalgia. It's an American pudding without eggs or cream--similar to the pudding that comes in that little box. It's adult chocolate flavor though is outrageous, in the best way possible. I added a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt, just to balance out the chocolate.

The best part: it looks so cute served in individual ramekins, and you can make it in advance. The pudding has to be made 2-3 hours ahead of time so it can set in the fridge, and you can even leave the puddings in the fridge for 3 days.

This is what you want to make for dessert this Valentine's Day. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding

Adapted from John Sharffenberger via Smitten Kitchen

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups whole milk

6 ounces chopped semi- or bittersweet chocolate

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Slowly whisk in whole milk to prevent lumps, then add milk more quickly. 

Place over medium-low heat and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom and the sides. Use a whisk if lumps form. After 10 minutes or so, before the milk mixture simmers, the mixture should thicken and cover the back of a wooden spoon. Add the chocolate and stir for another 2 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is fully incorporated and the pudding is thick.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Either pour into one large serving bowl or divvy out into individual servings. Chill until the pudding is set, about 2 to 3 hours.

If you dislike pudding skin, put some plastic wrap over the pudding and smooth it gently into the surface of the pudding before refrigerating.