Milk Chocolate Pudding

A decadent milk chocolate pudding that differs from other puddings because it’s made with creamy milk chocolate. Top with whipped cream for a simple and always satisfying dessert!

Gourmet snuck in a little recipe on its February table of contents that immediately caught my eye: Milk Chocolate Pudding, lightly tossed with whipped cream. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that I can think of few things that are better than chocolate, and for a milk chocolate-lover such as myself, there was no way I’d let this easy recipe slip by unmade.

I even had the necessary ingredients: some leftover whipping cream, some milk (rare, because I only use it for baking these days, being more of the soy persuasion), a bit of cornstarch and cocao powder, and milk chocolate. I live in the land of Ghiradelli and Scharffen Berger and have a mother who adores Lindt, but all I had was my trusty Trader Joe’s Pound Plus in the cabinet — so that’s what I used. True chocolate coinesseurs might be disgusted by my use of a store-brand chocolate, but I don’t think it made much of a difference in overall taste quality.

This pudding was all melty, chocolate-y goodness through and through, and while a fancier brand might have made for a more discerning muddle of cream and cacao, it was pretty darn good all the same. And I have never been one to turn up my nose at Trader Joe’s; I’ve been enjoying their chocolate ever since I can remember cadging little tastes from an open bar in the cupboard.

I started by chopping up my Pound Plus as finely as possible

and consulted this very simplest of recipes as necessary

tasting every so often

and devoured a sample as soon as it was properly chilled.

If February is the month for chocolate — and why not every month, say? — this is definitely one for the recipe books. I love chocolate passionately (I do; I am not exaggerating), but only as the mood strikes me. I have a funny relationship with sweets: sometimes I’ll start thinking about dessert even before I’ve finished cooking the main meal, but at other times I’ll spend hours baking a confection only to take a nibble and leave the rest for the mice. Chocolate I must have in moderation; perhaps, then, I’d should have a tapas of chocolate treats rather than embarking on a whole plate.

This little pudding makes about four servings and keeps for a few days — perfect for taking small portions and coming back for more every so often. Next time I might try with Scharffen Berger’s 44% cacao milk bar just to see if there truly is any taste difference, but I have a soft spot for the TJ after going without for so long (as I was leaving the East Coast, it was just arriving, and now back in Northern California I am rediscovering its bounty) that I doubt will fade. Chocolate elitism aside, all that really matters is that you should not let February slide by without making this unassuming gem.