Although I love summer fruit desserts, this week's TWD selection featured the thing I've been craving lately...chocolate. Thank you, thank you, Melissa from Its Melissas Kitchen, for picking Chocolate Pudding!I vaguely remember attempting stovetop chocolate pudding once before years ago, but it didn't work for some reason. Or was it blancmange? Who knows. I love pudding (any flavor, really), but I don't make it at home unless my daughter begs for it. I find the Jell-O versions (especially the fat-free/sugar-free incarnations) really unsatisfying, although they do pump up a cake recipe. Trader Joe's used to make this incredible coffee-flavored pudding, but I couldn't allow it in the house. It was that good. Now and then I will pick up a cup of Echo Farms pudding at my local market, but it's expensive, and I know I could make it better, for less.
Anyhow, I was excited to try this recipe, even though a quick read-through revealed that it would involve two of my pet recipe peeves: lots of equipment and utensils/bowls, and lots of transferring hot liquid between them. Rather than futz around with a food processor, bowls, and a saucepan, I decided to roll the dice and use...a saucepan and my new best friend, my Breville hand blender. This thing was not cheap, but it is awesome. It has not flaked out on me once. Chunky soup? Done! Icy smoothies? Pulverized! Chocolate pudding? Smooth and lump-free!
You can find the complete recipe over at Melissa's blog, but basically I watched the heat on my stove and did almost everything in the saucepan. The pudding came out smooth and rich and full of chocolate goodness. Did anyone skip the two tablespoons of butter? I thought they were sort of gilding the lily, but I didn't want to mess around. I may leave them out next time and see if it makes a difference.
We let the pudding cool...a little. In addition to my one-cup ramekins, I filled a tiny little cup from a set I picked up on clearance at NapaStyle (I'm ordering the blue ones next). Katie ate that one up immediately, of course. Naturally, the pudding was even better chilled for breakfast the next morning! The photo is blurry because I need to clean my lens...sorry.
Next week: Amanda from Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake has chosen
Last week: Double-Crusted Blueberry Pie
It's okay, even through the blur I can totallt see that that is one awesome cup. Wonderful for a nice brown chocolate pudding.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying the hand blender next time!
ReplyDeletebet it was good! love the cute cups!
ReplyDeleteGood idea to use the hand blender.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even think of the hand blender. I think I only added 1 tbsp of butter by accident and tasted okay to me!
ReplyDeleteNice pudding! I think next on my to get list is one of those nice hand mixers. I have one, but its one of those braun ones that have a tendency to burn out on you if you're not careful.
ReplyDeleteDidn't even think to use my immersion blender. Crap! All that back and forth got on my nerves a little, but the result was totally worth it. ;)
ReplyDeletei don't know why i didn't think to use my hand blender. next time for sure! all of those dishes drove me nuts afterwards! great job!
ReplyDeleteThe cups are cute - I like the blue ones, too. And I'm thinking I'll try my hand blender next time as well. Great job!
ReplyDeleteHand blender. What a fun idea! I think I need to add that to my (ever growing) kitchen gadget list! Pudding looks yum. Great job!
ReplyDeleteClara @ iheartfood4thought
I liked to use my manually operated whisk ;-), it reminds me of childhood, like Dr. Oetker Puddings. They are not instant puddings, you have to cook them. It a ready mix of cocoa and cornstarch and some flavour. You have to add sugar to your taste. It's the first thing you cook as a child in Germany.
ReplyDeleteYour pudding looks great, love the dish!
Ulrike from Küchenlatein
Hand blender is genius--so much easier to clean. Looks so yummy!
ReplyDeletei just hand whisked and sifted my dry and it worked fabulously...!!! i also don't keep fun stuff in the house since i'll eat it all, i made 2 mini ones from the leftovers that were gone next day, thankfully!
ReplyDeleteI should have used my hand blender. I had such a mess all over my counter. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThose are cute cups, and I like your idea of using the Breville and skipping all the dirty dishes!
ReplyDeleteyay for hand blenders! i used one too :) glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteglad to know you can pretty much make this just in the pan - I hated all the schlepping from one bowl to another! yours turned out great!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! I didn't even have a hand blender, I had to go old school with a whisk! Sigh. Anyway, your pudding looks really smooth and nice!
ReplyDeleteLove the cute custard cup! Very fun. Looks great!
ReplyDeleteGood idea using the hand blender... I'm all over that if I do this recipe again.
ReplyDeleteNice work!
Pudding for breakfast? Mine barely lasted 5 minutes in the house once they were chilled and ready to go, let alone make it to morning! haha Glad to hear the hand mixer worked just as well because I don't always have my blender handy.
ReplyDeleteIt looks yummy! I'm jealous of your hand blender, I've had my eye on that one for a while, but my husband might kill me if I bring home another kitchen appliance! :)
ReplyDeleteI think our hand blender usage worked out quite well for both of us. I love how Dorie's recipes always seem to work with alternate equipment.
ReplyDeleteMmm, pudding for breakfast. =) And I'm glad to know the immersion blender works well.
ReplyDeleteThe Breville looks awesome and so does your pudding in the cute cup! Know worries about the picture. . .the creaminess shines right through! P.S. ~ I looked up the Breville using your link. I just have to get one =D
ReplyDeleteI like the little custard cups! Pudding looks great :)
ReplyDeleteCute cup....my photos turn out blurry also.
ReplyDeleteI am glad the immersion blender worked well. I thought about using mine, but decided my food processor could use a little exercise.
ReplyDeleteI like the little cup. Glad you pulled it off with only one pan and your hand held blender. I have a Braun set up and used that and had no problems at all. I love small appliances that can handle big projects! Look forward to seeing your post next week.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to try the one pan method next time!
ReplyDeletep.s. Yes, the sprinkles do taste like chocolate. They call them hagelslag in the NL, was it the same in Belgium?
Your pudding looks beautifully silky! Hand blending obviously works great.
ReplyDeleteMmmm... I was excited about Chocolate this week, too! Your pudding looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteHi! :)
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glad you enjoyed the recipe. funny about the dirty lens :)
ReplyDelete