CHOCOLATE LOVERS CHOCOLATE PUDDING

If you love chocolate, as much as I love chocolate, I hope you will try this recipe. I have been perfecting it for a couple of years now, and the process has required a lot of delicious taste testing sacrifice on my part, but the end result is perfection: thick, ultra-chocolate-y, super rich and addicting....just right!!

2 1/4 cups milk (I use 2% milk, but any kind is ok)

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup brown sugar (I use dark, but light is ok)
3 egg YOLKS  (yolks ONLY)
3 tablespoons corn starch (very slightly rounded)(not heaping)
1 (11.5 ounce) bag milk chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter (cut into pieces)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk the brown sugar and corn starch together and set aside. This step isn't absolutely necessary, but if you do it this way, the cornstarch will not clump up or lump up when you add the milk. 

Whisk the cream, milk and yolks together in a saucepan that has a nice heavy bottom (it prevents scorching). Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and whisk until smooth. Make sure you scrape the corners of the pan because the corn starch likes to "hide" there.

Cook on medium heat (stirring) until it gets thick and starts to bubble all over the entire surface of the pudding. TURN THE HEAT DOWN to a level where it still bubbles (but isn't going crazy) and cook/stir for another 30 seconds.

Remove from heat and add the butter, milk chocolate chips and vanilla; whisk until melted and smooth.

 

Now, if you REALLY want that super smooth and silky mouth feel, pour the cooked pudding through a mesh strainer, it REALLY makes a HUGE difference but isn't absolutely necessary.

Pour into dessert dishes and lay a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap right on the surface of the hot pudding (this will stop any "pudding skin" from forming). Chill for at least 4 hours. Top with whipped cream and serve cold.

 

A NOTE ABOUT CHOCOLATE CHIPS: Any brand milk chocolate chips will work. I usually use Nestlé's or Ghirardelli chocolate chips and try to stay away from the waxy generic house brands of chocolate chips. But that's just my preference.

ENJOY !!

PEANUT BUTTER WHIPPED CREAM

I came up with this idea one afternoon and (right out of the chute) it was a keeper.  Whipped cream that has a mellow peanut butter taste... the perfect addition to ANY dessert!!

Make this part a few minutes ahead of time, so it can cool just a little:

1 cup Reece's Peanut Butter Chips
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Microwave the above just until the cream gets steamy hot, but not boiling. In my microwave this takes about a minute. Remove from the microwave and whisk until the melted mixture is smooth.

Add
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk until smooth and set aside to cool a little.

With electric mixer, start whipping 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream.
When it gets about "half way" to being whipped cream, slowly drizzle in the peanut butter chip mixture.

Continue whipping until it gets to the consistency you like.

ENJOY !!

Microwave Chocolate-Marshmallow Pudding

Super quick, super easy, rich and chocolate-y, and very inexpensive to make; this fun dessert will satisfy your chocolate craving for sure!! Equally delicious warm or cold, you can have this treat on the dinner table in no time.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
pinch salt
3 level tablespoons corn starch
2 cups milk (see note below)
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups mini-marshmallows (optional)

In a large glass bowl, mix the brown sugar, cocoa, salt and corn starch. Slowly add the milk and mix well. At first the cocoa will sort of sit on top of the milk, but if you mix well with a whisk, it will mix together in a minute or so.

Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes. Carefully remove from microwave, and stir well (again with whisk).  Put it back in the microwave (one minute at a time...stirring well after each minute) until the pudding is shiny and thick.  My microwave took the initial 3 minutes, then 2 more (1 minute) intervals), but everyones microwave is different, so just mix it well after each interval and when it is shiny and thick, it's done.

After pudding is thick, stir in butter and vanilla and mini-marshmallows. The heat from the pudding will melt the marshmallows, so don't stir them too much (you want them to stay whole if possible).  Chill the pudding in dessert dishes.

NOTE: I like to use whole milk in this recipe, but I make it with 2% milk a lot too.

NOTE: Marshmallows totally optional.

NOTE: Don't microwave this pudding in a plastic bowl because the plastic gets hotter than the pudding for some reason; glass is the best.

EASY BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING

It seems that I have been on a never-ending search for good pudding recipes...we like pudding!! Picky-picky husbands favorite is butterscotch and I found one, last year, that had a fantastic flavor, but it was a little thick and paste-y for our tastes.

Because it had such a rich butterscotch taste, I've been tinkering with the thickening agents and the final results have produced a real keeper of a recipe.It is light, creamy, very butterscotch-y and super quick and easy to make... no tempering of eggs or anything complicated, just mix, bring to a boil then add butter and extracts...it is done in a snap!!

1 cup brown sugar

3 level tablespoons corn starch
3 egg YOLKS
2 cups half and half
 2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract

In a saucepan that has a heavy bottom, mix the brown sugar and cornstarch. Once mixed well, stir in the half and half and the egg yolks; whisk until well mixed (run a spatula over the bottom of the pan to make sure you have everything out of the corners).

Cook on medium high until it just starts to boil (stirring the whole time).  When it starts to bubble, the pudding should already be nice and thick; remove from heat.

Whisk in the butter and extracts; mix well. Pour into dessert dishes and put some plastic wrap or wax paper directly onto the surface of the hot pudding. This will stop any pudding skin from forming.  

 Put in the fridge until well chilled.

NOTE: You get the best flavor if you use a combination of vanilla and rum extracts. If you don't have rum extracts, just use all vanilla.