Egg Yolk Chocolate Pudding

Whenever I have huge amounts of leftover milk (let’s face it – not often), I am compelled to use it before I lose it. I recently discovered I had almost two quarts of milk that was about to go bad (from buying a gallon of milk set to expire the first part of January right at Christmas – smooth move) and needed to do something with it.

Pudding anyone? Having just made the ultimate comfort food dinner (mac and cheese pot pie), I though I would make the ultimate comfort food dessert counterpart: chocolate pudding.

I have recent but strong opinions about using cornstarch as a thickener in dessert-like dishes. When looking for a chocolate pudding recipe I could nary find a recipe without cornstarch. I’ve previously posted a recipe for chocolate pudding made with cornstarch and didn’t want to do so again. So I compromised. I found a recipe that used a mixture of egg yolks and cornstarch hoping the resulting pudding wouldn’t end up too grainy.

ingredients.

• 6 c. whole milk
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 2/3 c. natural cocoa powder
• 1/3 c. bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 T. cornstarch
• 9 large egg yolks
• 2 T. pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp. fine salt

directions.

1. Put 4 cups of the milk, the sugar, and the cocoa in a nonreactive saucepan. Bring to a simmer, over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 2 cups of milk, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks, and vanilla in a bowl. Gradually whisk a small portion of the hot milk (slow stream) into the egg mixture until the egg mixture has been warmed.
3. Add the warmed egg mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat whisking constantly, until the pudding comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and continue whisking until thick, about 2 or 3 minutes more.
4. Pour the pudding through a fine-sieve strainer into a large bowl.
5. Pour the strained pudding into individual cups. Cover the top of the pudding with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming) and refrigerate overnight.
6. Serve chilled with whipped cream.

I must have the most refined palate around. I could definitely tell there was cornstarch in this pudding. (Or maybe because I knew it was made with cornstarch, I could “taste” it?) Despite the *slightly* grainy texture, this pudding was exactly what I was looking for: chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. I actually upped the chocolate factor (from the original recipe) by adding chocolate chips. (I’m also not a fan of using powdered chocolate when you can use the real thing!) Adding the chocolate chips proved to be the right move.

Recipe rating: 