Ultimate Cook Book_ 900 New Recipes, Thousands of Ideas - Bruce Weinstein [413]
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
3 cups milk (regular, low-fat, or fat-free)
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl until creamy and smooth. Set aside.
Clean and dry your whisk. Whisk the milk, chocolate, sugar, flour, and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat until the chocolate melts, the flour dissolves, and the mixture is smooth, slightly thickened, and just comes to its first bubble, about 6 minutes. Whisking all the while, let it bubble for 30 seconds. It will look like chocolate pudding at this stage.
Whisk half the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks in a small, steady stream until smooth; whisk this combined mixture back into the remaining chocolate mixture in the pan.
Reduce the heat to low (if you’re working with an electric stove, use a different burner just now turned to low). Return the pan to the heat and cook, whisking constantly, until bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat, whisk in the vanilla, and pour into a large serving bowl or six ½-or ¾-cup individual custard cups or ramekins. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Once set, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Banana Chocolate Pudding: Finely chop 1 ripe banana, place the pieces in the bottom of the serving bowl or divide them among the ramekins, then spoon the warm pudding over them. If desired, add ¼ teaspoon banana flavoring with the vanilla.
Mexican Chocolate Pudding: Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon with the flour. Add ¼ cup toasted slivered almonds and ¼ teaspoon almond extract with the vanilla.
Chili Chocolate Pudding: Add ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper with the flour.
Orange Chocolate Pudding: Decrease the vanilla to 1½ teaspoons and add 1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest with it.
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Pudding Skin
If you like pudding with skin, set the ramekins or custard cups in the refrigerator and don’t cover them. When they are chilled, you can stretch a piece of plastic wrap over the rims to protect the puddings’ insides from refrigerator odors; but frankly, that skin is quite a deterrent.
If you don’t like skin, lay plastic wrap right on top of the warm pudding, securing the wrap to the inside walls of the ramekin or cup, thereby sealing the pudding into the bowl and leaving no room for the dreaded skin.
There’s also this old trick for warding off the skin that adds a little fat: either hold a stick of unsalted butter over the still-hot pudding, touching it to the top in a few places; or place a small piece of butter on a knife and rub it quickly over the surface. The small layer of fat will keep the casein, the naturally occurring egg protein, from coming to the surface, drying out, and thus forming a skin.
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Butterscotch Pudding
A good butterscotch dessert is hard to beat—and fairly simple: some caramelized sugar, a touch of butter, and a little salt for contrast. Makes 6 servings
5 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
3 cups milk (regular, low-fat, or fat-free)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Whisk the yolks in a medium bowl until smooth, creamy, and thick, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.
Cook both sugars in a large saucepan set over medium heat, stirring almost constantly, until melted and golden, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until little bubbles fizz around the pan’s inner edge.
Stirring all the while, slowly add the warmed milk to the caramelized sugar. The mixture will froth at first, then the sugar will clump in the milk. Keep stirring over the heat until the sugar has calmed down and then remelted.
Whisk about half the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks in a slow stream, then whisk this combined mixture back into the pan until smooth. Reduce the heat to low and whisk constantly until the first bubble, about