I used to make instant Jell-o chocolate pudding all the time when I was a kid. All you needed to do was dump the powder and milk in a sauce pan and stir until your wrist got tired. This is the grown-up version of the Jell-o stuff, and much tastier! I adapted a recipe I use for vanilla custard so it uses plenty of butter and eggs (but it’s worth it for the good stuff, right?) It’s a bit more involved than the instant kind since this requires tempering your eggs. Tempering is a process that allows the temperature of the eggs to rise without creating a scrambled mess. All you need is a steady pouring hand and another to do the fast stirring to combine the hot milk into the eggs. It’s a breeze once you get the hang of it. I used real chocolate chips along with unsweetened cocoa powder to amp up the chocolate flavor. It also tastes great served cold, hot and in large bowls!
Homemade Chocolate Pudding
(Makes 8+ servings)
Printable Version
Ingredients:
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- Pinch salt
- 8 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (add up to 1/3 cup if desired)
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- whipped cream, optional
Directions:
- In a saucepan, combine the milk, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the vanilla, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the yolks, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and cornstarch until smooth.
- Take out a whisk, a ladle, and a large glass or ceramic bowl to have ready. Heat the milk mixture in the saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a simmering slow boil, whisking it as it gets steamy. When you see the first bubbles boiling up, remove from heat and set it beside the egg mixture.
- During the next steps, stir constantly or the eggs will coagulate and you’ll have scrambled eggs. Take a ladleful of hot milk and pour it in a thin stream into the eggs, whisking constantly. Continue stirring, and add one or two more ladlefuls of hot milk to the eggs in the same way. The tempered eggs are now ready to add back into the hot milk.
- To do this, whisk the hot milk constantly and slowly pour the tempered eggs in. When fully combined, put this mixture back on the stovetop over medium heat and continue to whisk constantly.
- While whisking add in the cocoa powder until fully dissolved.
- The mixture should be ready to come back to a simmer very quickly. When the custard nears the consistency of pudding, take very short pauses in stirring to look for signs of a bubble surfacing.
- Once the pudding has thickened, stir in the chocolate chips until smooth.
- When you see the first blurp, remove the pan from the heat immediately and whisk in the cubes of butter until fully combined. Pour into glass bowls and serve with whipped cream.