Single Serve Chocolate Pudding

Yes, I'm still alive. I've just been a little busy the last couple of weeks since my family came to visit all the way from the USA. I'm gonna miss those guys, especially the little munchkin pictured below prancing around in a fairytale-esque field of flowers.

I'm sort of obsessed with these flowers. I took some home for a centerpiece (as you may have seen on instagram), but unfortunately, the hot car ride home from the Northern German countryside back to Berlin wasn't exactly a poppies dream come true. Most of them died.

When I dumping all the wilted flower corpses in the trash with tear-filled eyes, I noticed that there were several buds that hadn't opened yet. I picked them out of the trash and flicked off the pieces of moldy cheese and coffee grounds, threw them in a glass of water, and waited for my poppies to pop.

As you can see, they did.

By the way, speaking of mold, I just noticed as I was editing these pictures that one of those blackberries has a little, um... mold... on it.

I'm pretty embarrassed about that, but not embarrassed enough to retake all the photos. HA!

Besides, Samuel ate this whole thing when he came home (minus the few bites I devoured before he got here), and he didn't mention the mold, so I guess it wasn't too bad...?

So pretty much all you have to do is whisk together some milk, an egg, a little corn starch, and a little sugar and zap it in the microwave.

When it's thick and creamy, you can add some vanilla and a little butter. Then you have some delicious vanilla pudding.

But since vanilla pudding's biggest flaw is that it doesn't contain chocolate, you should really add some chocolate.

Whisk it up until it's nice and smooth and you're good to go. For emergencies, eat it warm. For the more patient chocoholic (wait, is there such a thing?), throw it in the fridge until it's super thick and creamy.

Don't forget to add some whipped cream and crushed Oreos and top it with a few moldy berries!

Heh.

• • Single Serve Chocolate Pudding
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
    2 tablespoons white sugar
  • 1 egg
    1/2 cup milk (non dairy milk also works)
    1 tablespoon butter
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • A pinch of salt
    4 oz. (100 grams) chopped chocolate or a slightly heaping 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate for this pudding, but any chocolate will do)
  • Whipped cream, chocolate curls, berries and/or crushed Oreos (or these gluten free oreos) for topping if desired
  • In a microwave safe dish, combine the corn starch and sugar. Add the egg and whisk until smooth. Add the milk and whisk well.
  • Microwave for about 3 minutes, whisking well every 30 seconds. It might get kind of chunky looking at some points, but just keep whisking! It may take a little longer or shorter depending on your microwave, but just cook it until it thickens.
  • Remove from the microwave and whisk in the butter and vanilla until smooth. Add the chocolate and whisk until completely melted.
  • You can eat it warm if you are having a chocolate emergency. Otherwise, cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic is touching the top of the pudding. This prevents a dry film forming on the top. Refrigerate until completely cooled (it will thicken as it cools). You can also transfer it to a serving glass with crushed Oreos in the bottom while it's warm and then cover and chill.
  • Top with whipped cream, Oreo crumbs, berries, and/or chocolate curls (tutorial for the chocolate curls is still coming someday).