Chocolate Pudding

I bought too much milk, and didn't realize it until it was starting to turn.  At that point, it's too late to freeze for later.  So I went off looking for "recipes to use up milk".

I've wanted to make chocolate pudding from scratch for some time, but most recipes call for egg yolks.  I'm sure they're rich and delicious, but I didn't want to compound the problem with excess egg whites.  Plus, I had almost exactly 2-1/2 cups of milk left in the carton.

The recipe I'm following from Good Cheap Eats uses cornstarch as the thickener, which gets around the yolk issue.  She stirs in chocolate chips at the end to make it richer, which got me thinking.  I got down the mix-ins box and decided to add mini marshmallows to mine as well as the chips.  This meant I had to wait for the mixture to cool down a bit first, so as not to melt everything.  Then it got portioned into the ramekins and chilled until set.

Mix-ins box: various flavors of chips, marshmallows, coconut, etc

Even without the eggs, this pudding comes out rich and smooth.  It also only takes about 10 minutes to make, 15 with stirring it off the heat if you want it to cool a little before adding the chips.  And you do have to stir constantly.  Otherwise, the milk will scorch.  Small price to pay for a pudding that's creamy and sets up thick without gelatin.

2/3 C sugar
1/4 C cornstarch
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
*2-1/2 C milk
1/2 C chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

1.  Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium saucepan.  Stir in milk and whisk until the big lumps are gone.  At this point, I let it sit 10 minutes to dissolve a little better.

2.  Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.  This will take 6-10 minutes, depending on your stove and the width of your pan.  The solids will continue to dissolve as you stir.  Once bubbling, the pudding is going to thicken up quickly and turn smooth.  When you can drop it in gooey dollops from the spoon, add vanilla and remove from the heat.

3.  To suspend chips, nuts, marshmallows, etc in the pudding, continue to stir off the heat until no longer steaming.  Then add the mix-ins and pour into 4 to 6 serving cups.  Half-cup servings is six, but I have larger ramekins and did four.  If you're going for a smooth pudding, just add the half cup of chips while the pudding is hot and stir until melted, then divide.

4.  Cover surface of the cups with plastic wrap or wax paper to prevent a skin from forming.  Unless you like the skin.  Up to you.  Chill at least 4 hours.  Serve cold, with whipped cream and/or decorations if desired.

Difficulty rating  π