Cocoa-Mocha Pudding

Pudding is one of those comfort desserts for me that I don’t have often but when I do, I feel why don’t I make it more often because it’s so easy to make, not as sweet and a very wholesome dessert. This recipe needs very few ingredients and makes almost 6-8 servings. You can make pudding for a date night, for a fancy dinner or a kid’s party. Try it.

Ingredients (Pudding):

• 2/3 cup Sugar
• ¼ cup Corn starch
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 1/3 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 tsp Instant coffee
• 2 ½ cup Milk
• 4 large Egg yolks
• 2 tbsp unsalted Butter
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Ingredients (Whipped cream):

• ½ cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Tip:

• Use fresh and room temperature ingredients.
• Precisely follow the procedure step by step, timing is everything.
• Always keep stirring the mixture and don’t be impatient.
• After the pudding is off the heat and strained, add butter quickly so it melts better.

Directions:

• In a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk sugar, corn starch, cocoa powder, instant coffee and salt together.
• Add milk to the mixture in small quantities at a time and whisk slowly to get rid of any lumps.
• After the milk is well incorporated, add egg yolks and whisk everything together.
• Switch on the gas stove at medium flame and keep stirring the mixture continuously, until it starts to bubble and gets more thick.
• As soon as mixture bubbles at the edges and becomes thick, put on a timer for 1 minute and keep on stirring.
• After the minute is up, take saucepan off the heat and put the pudding through a strainer to get rid of any lumps.
• Then, add butter and vanilla extract to pudding and mix well.
• Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 5-6 hours or overnight.
• Meanwhile, whip the heavy cream using a hand mixer and  when it starts to get fluffy, add icing sugar and vanilla extract and again start whipping until it can hold peaks.
• Put the whipped cream in a piping bag and refrigerate.
• Take the pudding and whipped cream out of the refrigerator.
• Serve pudding in a dessert bowl after adding whipped cream, some cocoa powder and chocolate chips on top.