American Dessert
DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PUDDING
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup whole milk (1½ cups more later)
3 ounces (3 squares) unsweetened baking chocolate
¾ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
whipped cream for topping (Optional? I don’t think so.)
Makes 6 pudding cups. Takes 30 minutes to 8 hours, depending on how long you can wait.
PREPARATION
Cut butter into little bits. Add cocoa powder and cornstarch to bowl. Blend thoroughly with whisk. Add ½ cup milk. Stir until there are no lumps.
Add baking chocolate to pot. Simmer at low heat until chocolate melts. Stir constantly. Gradually add sugar and salt, stirring constantly with whisk until well blended. Slowly add 1½ cup milk. Stir constantly with whisk until well blended. Add butter, vanilla extract and cocoa/cornstarch mix from bowl. Stir constantly until thoroughly blended. Increase heat to medium. Continue whisking for 3 minutes or until pudding comes to a boil and thickens. Lower heat to warm. Simmer for 1 minute. Stir constantly.
Pour pudding into pudding cups. Let cool for 10 minutes if you wish to eat warm, soft pudding, If however, you desire a cold, firmer pudding, cover cups with plastic wrap to prevent a thick skin from forming on top. Place cups in refrigerator. Chill for 3-to-8 hours. Serve as is to distant acquaintances and tolerated relatives. Top with whipped cream to friends and loved ones.
TIDBITS
1) This recipe is endorsed by the Bacon & Chocolate Party.
2) Bacon & Chocolate stands for things America really like, like bacon and chocolate.
3) Party followers are a diverse lot liking all sorts of things, many of them contradictory. Sorta like Schrödinger’s cat. B&C is on the ballot on all but fifty states and has already amassed a campaign chest of $0.00. Vote Bacon & Chocolate for a tasty tomorrow.
– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef
My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.
