John Scharffenberger's Silky Chocolate Pudding

Hello? Yes? I'm still here. I can't seem to tear myself away from my blog. Or my kitchen. It's just, well, as Deb points out, old habits die hard. Even if those habits aren't very old at all. In fact, only 30 days old.

But it's Friday, and since I promise to stay away from the computer all weekend, let me just get this one little item in. After all, it's about chocolate pudding! Silky chocolate pudding. It's so good that before leaving for work this morning, Monosyllabic Morning Ben told me we had a date to eat more of it tonight together.

The recipe comes from John Scharffenberger's new book, The Essence of Chocolate, which is elegant and beautiful and offers lots of interesting recipes. But I found myself bookmarking only the homiest of recipes, this pudding and the Chocolate-Marbled Gingerbread (the combination of chocolate and gingerbread being, in my opinion, the best December flavor there is). I got to work on the pudding last night and realized, as I was stirring the milk into the cornstarch, that I've never made pudding from scratch before. Well, to be fair, I've never made it from a packet either. Mousse, yes. Panna cotta, too. But pudding? This would be my first time.

And what a time it was. Since I didn't have vanilla extract, I used half a vanilla bean, scraped clean, and mixed it in at the beginning with the milk, sugar and cornstarch. It took exactly 20 minutes for this mixture to thicken as promised. I only had two ounces of Scharffenberger 70% chocolate and supplemented the rest with an equally dark Italian chocolate bought for me by my mother because of its name. After stirring in the chopped chocolate, the mixture transformed into this glossy, voluptuous, vanilla-specked puddle of pudding.

It took quite a bit of willpower not to eat the pudding warm, for dinner, and I think Ben would have been okay with that. But we dutifully ate our turbot (too fishy) and our salad while the pudding chilled. And then. Pure deliciousness. It was silky, yes, almost velvety. Blooming with chocolate flavor and an absolute delight to eat. It's like love and comfort in spoonable form. The pudding was a just reward for all the hard work, and thankfully, I've got a hot date tonight for more.

And that's it! That's all you'll get from me! For at least, um, ... two days.

Silky Chocolate Pudding
Serves 4 to 6

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces 62% semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Combine the cornstarch, sugar and salt in the top of a double boiler. Slowly whisk in the milk, scraping the bottom and sides with a heatproof spatula to incorporate the dry ingredients. Place over gently simmering water and stir occasionally, scraping the bottom and sides. Use a whisk as necessary should lumps begin to form. After 15 to 20 minutes, when the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of the spoon, add the chocolate. Continue stirring for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until the pudding is smoooth and thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

2. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a serving bowl or into a large measuring cup with a spout and pour into individual serving dishes.

3. If you like pudding skin, pull plastic wrap over the top of the serving dish(es) before refrigerating. If you dislike pudding skin, place plastic wrap on top of the pudding and smooth it gently against the surface before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.

Comments

[deb]

Oh, perfect! One, I loves me some Scharffenberger, and they don't even seem to have gotten Hersheyfied, thank goodness. Two, I was looking for a chocolate pudding recipe a few weeks ago and could only find heavy, ganache-like pot-de-crème-type recipes wrongly paraded as puddings. Puddings, in my mind, are milk, not cream based, or they were when my mother used to make them for us. This sounds much more the ticket. Hooray!

[lydia]

Refrigerate for up to three days? Are you kidding? That pudding wouldn't last three minutes in my house! It looks absolutely luscious; I'll have to invent a special occasion just so I can try it.

[AnnieKNodes]

Great post before your weekend "vacation" from the computer. A delicious pudding is a just reward for a hardworking month of daily blogging!

Fred, who never cooks, wants to try making an Earl Gray flavored pudding. I'm scared, yet intrigued.

[Leah]

Ooooh! Well, my dear Luisa, first I must congratulate you on a job tremendously well done. I have to agree with Shuna's comment yesterday's that the posts you gave us throughout November were just marvelous - not only the wonderful writing, but the way you let us into peek behind the scenes, into your kitchen and your life a little more. It really was something I looked forward to every day. Thank you for all of it!

Now, as for this pudding... looks gorgeous! I can't wait to try it and compare it to the pudding (well, I made it into pot-de-creme) I made for Thanksgiving. Kelli over at Lovescool posted a recipe that I couldn't resist (and that I had to tart up a bit with coffee). It was superb, and this one looks like it would be as well.

PS - I FOUND INSTANT YEAST. I can't wait.

[elle]

wish i had some of that pudding right this minute...maybe i will make this later.

[Tanna]

I hope you enjoy your hot date and the pudding while the rest of us out here are having withdrawal pains...
The pudding looks seriously good, it looks like the "simple" stuff my grandmother used to make before they could affort the really "good" stuff that came in a box. Home made from the heart is always so way much better than the box!!!
Excellent month!!!

[Tana]

Ditto from the Other White Tana.

: D

You are so productive!

[Rebecca]

This looks so delicious, and reminds me of my childhood, when pudding was a frequent dessert item, sometimes in a dish, with a dollop of whipped cream, sometimes as a filling for my mom's cream puffs, and sometimes poured into a pie shell and again topped with whipped cream. Of course, Mom didn't make hers with European chocolate, but even Hershey's cocoa makes pretty good chocolate pudding! Butterscotch pudding is good, too, made with brown sugar and extra butter.

[Jessika]

Looks great! I will try it for sure :).
And congrats for finishing the 30 days, it was a definite achievement.

[Julie]

You have to appreciate something so simple to make but with such a satisfying payback.

And chocolate-marbled gingerbread? I can't wait to hear about that.

[Abby]

Yum.

With a name like Scharffenberger, it has to be good! (Heh)

[shuna fish lydon]

believe me when I say to you this pudding is made all the more better with kosher salt to taste...

[Julie]

Thanks for this, Luisa. And thanks for November -- I loved reading you every day. I'm going to make this lush pudding -- today, probably. It's really similar, in ingredients and proportions, to the homemade chocolate pudding which I featured in my very first blog post almost two years ago, and which has been the background of numerous hot dates chez nous. I must have been channeling John Scharffenberger all those childhood years when I used Bakers' Unsweetened Chocolate. Of course, mine highlights the importance of topping it off with freshly whipped organic cream.

Oh, and like the other Julie, I can't wait for chocolate gingerbread. I've already been down to 86th Street's one remaining German store for several different packages of chocolate covered Lebkuchen...

[Shira]

Congratulations on a job well done. The NYT is always on my must-read list, but your blog has inspired me to look at the LA Times too.

[Luisa]

Deb - puddings should be milk-based, I agree! Cream-based turns them into fancy desserts, which is all well and good, but sometimes you want something homey and simple that doesn't coat your mouth with butterfat. And also? I'm so happy that Scharffenberger still seems to be indie.

Lydia - yeah, you're right. The pudding was gone 48 hours later...

Annie - I'm intrigued, too. How did it go?

Leah - hooray for instant yeast! I'm so excited for you. Can't wait to hear how your bread goes. And now I've got to go look at Kelli's pudding. I'm so glad you enjoyed NaBloPoMo - I did, too. Though, thank GOD it's now over ;)

Elle - pudding is one of those things, right? When you want it, you want it NOW.

Tanna and Tana - thank you!

Rebecca - can you believe that I've never had butterscotch pudding? I know, it's horrifying. And soon to be remedied. I'm imagining your pudding with raw-milk whipped cream, by the way ;)

Jessika - thank you. It feels good to have done it.

Julie - it's coming soon, I promise.

Abby - I wholeheartedly agree.

Shuna - there is a bit of salt in the recipe...you think it's not enough? I'll have to make a note of it.

Julie - Thank you so much. And yum, Lebkuchen.....the taste of December, as far as I'm concerned. Do you ever order stuff from Germandeli.com?

Shira - thank you, thank you. I'm so glad I've turned you on to the LAT Food section. What a pleasure it is.

[lobstersquad]

I have to try this. It sounds like the perfect indulgent decembry thing, and I think with the Thermomix I won´t even have to bother stirring. Thanks, I´d been looking everywhere for a recipe, but didn´t find them very convincing.

[Brilynn]

I haven't had chocolate pudding in ages... I would love some.

[Leisa]

I made this pudding for Valentine's Day dessert for last evening. The pudding did not come together as I expected it to in the double boiler. I ended up just dumping the mixture into the pan, and it thickened. I added 1/2 of a vanilla bean that I added to the mixture while heating (and discarded after scraping every bit of goodness out of the pod).I used Valrhona chocolate. I wanted a bit firmer texture, so I added 3 egg yolks (tempered off heat and then whisked back in). I found fresh raspberries and used them for garnish. I served in my china teacups. Thanks for this lovely recipe--I didn't mean it any offense by making a few changes.

[rosemary.gabriel@verizon.net]

It's snowing here on Eastern Long Island and I just made the "Silky Chocolate Pudding." To make sure that I wouldn't poison my husband, when I served it tonight after dinner. I tested it by having a generous warm bowl Now, my question is what do I do, stuck here indoors, 'cause of the snow, to avoid eating the whole bowl? He need not ever know that I made it in the first place!

[Cristina]

I was craving chocolate pudding and just made this as I had some great bars of 62% cocoa taunting me in the kitchen. Delish, but a bit too much chocolate. I actually measured 6 oz. but it came out looking heaps darker than your pictures. I will decrease next time.

[msmeanie]

I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and I love it! I have even used low fat milk (since that is all I had) and it still comes out amazingly! I use it to fill chocolate cupcakes...chocolate heaven I tell you!