Ina Garten-Inspired Chocolate Pudding

Compiled by Igor Kukolj, Editor. Nobody here has cooked this — how these are made.

A pudding that stayed runny and a pudding that turned thin again after chilling have opposite causes, and both come down to the same sixty seconds.

Cornflour does not reach full thickening power until the mixture actually boils — but held at a boil, the starch chains break apart and it thins again. Bring it to a proper bubbling boil, count one minute while whisking, and take it straight off. Under a minute and it will set soft and loosen in the fridge. Over two and you have undone the work.

Watch for large, slow bubbles breaking the surface. A simmer is not enough.

Bloom the cocoa in the hot milk

Cocoa powder whisked into cold liquid stays in suspension as gritty particles. Warmed, its fat softens and the flavour compounds dissolve, and the pudding tastes noticeably deeper for it. Whisk the cocoa with the sugar and a little of the milk into a paste first, then let it down.

Both cocoa and chocolate

Cocoa powder carries the roasted, bitter chocolate flavour. Dark chocolate, stirred in off the heat, brings cocoa butter, which is what makes the pudding glossy and gives it the texture that coats a spoon. Either alone is a lesser version.

Sieve it, always

However carefully you whisk, a little egg yolk sets on the base of the pan and a few lumps of cornflour survive. Thirty seconds through a sieve is the difference between homemade-tasting and properly smooth, and there is no way to achieve it by whisking harder.

Storing

Four days in the fridge with film on the surface — without it, a rubbery skin forms within an hour. It does not freeze; the starch separates and goes grainy.