Chocolate Pudding

Who does not love pudding?  Especially when it is chocolate & even more so when it is home made.  It was 10pm at night and I just could not resist.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 6 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of good cocoa powder (i used ghirardelli)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 3 cups of whole milk
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1/2 cup of good semisweet chocolate (i used ghirardelli chocolate chips, other wise chop the chocolate finely)
• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter

Preparation

1. In a medium deep saucepan, whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder and salt.  Add in 1 cup milk and 1 cup of heavy cream and whisk with the dry ingredients until the cornstarch is completely dissolved.  (couple of minutes) Whisk in the remaining 2 cups of milk until the mixture is smooth.

2. Place the saucepan over a medium heat, cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 5 minutes.  Add in the chocolate chips and butter and continue to cook, whisking until the chocolate and butter is melted.

3. Pour the pudding into about 6 dessert cups (decorate as you wish) and refrigerate until completely set.

(I used a tall serving glass, lined the bottom with some dry coconut, poured one layer of pudding, in the middle I lined one side with finely diced walnuts and other side with finely diced pistachio, poured the next layer of pudding, add slivered almonds and whipped cream on top.)

End Note: Recipe is from Martha Stewart Living, Featured on her old CBS television morning show.  I have altered the recipe as per my needs. Original can be found on Martha Stewart.