Best(& easiest) chocolate pudding ever

First, the news. Personal news. My family is moving cross-country to upstate New York. Very exciting. Very crazy. It also means time to cook -- whether from scratch or not -- is getting less, and less, and less, and less. I am still doing it though, but I am not sure how often I am going to post here. I already have a backlog of recipes, but my moving-related to-do list is also growing by the mile every second. My insanity-cum-stress level is shooting through the roofs and I am stopping every other second to pick up my eyeballs from the floor and popping them back into their sockets.

Whatever it is, I will come back here. If I am true to my word about posting recipes we have liked here, and if my bad habit of having to try yet another new recipe never dies, I could be posting until the cows come home. You just wait.

Does it look like the butterfly wants chocolate pudding too?

Second, more news, and exciting too: easy to make dessert that your kid(s) will love to help, can easily help, and they don't even have to wait to eat it (if you choose to eat it warm). This is totally delicious to me, and every time I think of this chocolate pudding recipe I rub my hands with glee for all its goodness. This recipe came from the no longer existing Organic Style magazine, and they called it "The Best Chocolate Pudding Ever" and I whole-heartedly agree with all my chocolate mustache. They also say if you want it less intense and more kid-friendly, to reduce the chocolate from 4 ounces to three instead. Well, that I respectfully disagree. I make it with four ounces of chocolate (maybe even a tiny bit more, to compensate for all that brown stuff that gets left behind on hard-to-reach places like the whisk and the pot) and have never received complaints. But of course, it is up to you to decide how much chocolate will be too intense for you and your family. Proceed with responsibility.

Best-ever Chocolate Pudding

The Best Chocolate Pudding Ever

Recipe from Organic Style magazine (Feb 2005)

Serves 4

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
•  3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 ounces fine-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup lightly sweetened whipped cream (optional, but highly recommended)

1. Combine 1/2 cup milk with sugars, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in a 1-pint jar. Screw lid on tightly and shake vigorously until blended (a few lumps are OK, and this is something kids will love to help with).
2. Heat remaining 1 1/2 cups milk in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat. When small bubbles appear on side of pan (kids love the assignment of watching out for bubbles!), pour cocoa mixture into saucepan and whisk to combine. Cook, whisking, until pudding thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in chopped chocolate and  vanilla extract.
3. Spoon pudding into 4 heatproof cups. Serve hot, warm or chilled with whipped cream, if desired. (I just pour into a large glass bowl, cover and chill. And portion out accordingly into small bowls.)

Got chocolate pudding?

 

Julia's Best-ever Brownies

So I have written about my personal quest for the perfect brownies recipe. Or rather, I am seeking out that same taste, that same sensation, that re-enaction of a care-free, breezy summer on a patio. As the wise ones had said, you never cross the same bridge twice, I guess I just may never experience that perfect brownie moment ever again.

But that is not to say I am giving up.

I came across an archetypal brownie recipe as I was culling through my recipe collection. It came from the much revered Baking with Julia. Really, can one ever go wrong there? I made the recipe once again (after it having been buried at the bottom of a box for the last several years) and truly, it is the best-ever. Well, unless you belong to the "I like my brownie cakey" camp, then that is a whole other story, because this brownie is the fudgy type. It is very, very rich, satisfying and groan-inducing.

Best-ever fudgy brownie

I did make a couple of small changes to the recipe, instead of using two different types of chocolate I used semi-sweet only, and added a teaspoon of espresso powder (having this in my pantry makes me feel safe).It's not an easy-peasy one-bowl recipe, requiring a couple more steps, but I think you'll agree it's worth the extra effort.

And this is not the end of the happily-ever-after story. My quest is still on. Call me silly or crazy, I don't care. The thing is, in that same pile of recipes I spied a few intriguing ones involving brownies, and I know I will just have to try them one of these days. And I may just finally hit upon that dream brownie. But in the meantime, this one sits on the top of the pile, no two words about it!

 

Julia Child's Best-ever Brownies
Recipe from Baking with Julia

1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped(I used 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate)

2 cups sugar (I reduced by 1/4 cup)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 tsp espresso powder (optional)

 

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. Sift the flour and salt together and set aside. 
2. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently and keeping a watchful eye on the pot to make certain the chocolate doesn't scorch (Alternatively, you can melt the ingredients in the top of a double boiler over, not touching, simmering water.) Add 1 cup of the sugar to the mixture and stir for half a minute, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
3. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.
4. Put the remaining 1 cup sugar and the eggs into a bowl and mix or whisk by hand just to combine.
5. Little by little, pour half of the sugar and eggs into the chocolate mixture, stirring gently but constantly with a rubber spatula so that the eggs don't set from the heat.
6. Fit the whisk attachment to the mixer and whip the remaining sugar and eggs until they are thick, pale, and doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.
7. Using the rubber spatula, delicately fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture.
8. When the eggs are almost completely incorporated, gently fold in the dry ingredients.
9. Pour and scrape the batter in to an unbuttered 9-inch square pan.
10. Bake the brownies for 25-28 minutes, during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry.
11. Cut into the center at about the 23-minute mark to see how the brownies are progressing: They'll be perfect if they're just barely set and still pretty gooey.
12. Cool the brownies completely in the pan on a rack.