Special Dark Chocolate Pudding

I recently read an article in Saveur about the best types of chocolate for making homemade chocolate pudding.  Surprisingly there were a few supermarket brands of chocolate that were clear winners in the experiment.  One of them being Hershey’s Special Dark.  Chocolate pudding and chocolate mousse are my favorite desserts so I had to give Special Dark a try in my own pudding recipe.  The results were terrific.  Rich, dark, smooth, not too bitter- no more fancy, expensive, hard-to-find chocolate necessary. This takes ten minutes to make- even better.  Makes 6 small ramekins or 4 large ones.

• a scant 1/2 C. sugar
• 2/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 T. cornstarch
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 C. milk, I used 1%
• 1/2 C. heavy cream
• 4 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate, such as Special Dark (the bar comes in a convenient 4.25 oz. package, leaving one little rectangle of chocolate left over which you will have no choice but to eat yourself while you are making this.  What else are you going to do with it?)
• 1 T. rum or other liqueur
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla

In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt.  Slowly whisk in the milk and cream over medium-low heat.  Continue whisking until mixture begins to thicken and bubble, about four minutes.  Stir in the chopped chocolate until melted fully.  Remove from heat and stir in the rum and vanilla.  Divide into ramekins, cover, and chill.

 

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