Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pudding

About Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pudding

Taste this chocolate pudding and you’ll swear it’s the real thing. There is something about the smooth texture, slight chill and sweet chocolate goodness that can ease anything from extracted wisdom teeth to a broken heart. It can even ease the pain of a crazy concoction you may have tried to pass off as dinner.

About Pudding

In the British Isles, and some Commonwealth countries, pudding is the common name for dessert.
Pudding is one of two types of food.
1. The first type of pudding is a solid mass formed by the mixing of various ingredients with a grain product (e.g. batter, flour, cereal) or another binder (e.g. blood, eggs, suet). Puddings can be cooked by three methods: baking, steaming, and boiling. This type of pudding is still common in various places, especially the British Isles, and can be eaten as either a main-course dish or a dessert. In Australia, pudding is usually used to describe this first type, though the term also may be used to refer to the second types as well. These are less common in the U.S.
Many puddings of this type resemble cakes, but are moister and usually served in chunks rather than slices. Others are types of sausages. Dessert pudding is often accompanied by custard or ice cream.

Boiled pudding was a common main course aboard ships in the British Navy in the 18th and 19th centuries. Pudding was used as the primary dish in which daily rations of flour and suet were prepared.
2. The second and newer type of pudding consists of sugar and a thickening agent such as cornstarch, gelatin, eggs, or tapioca to create a sweet dessert similar to custard or mousse. This is the most familiar meaning of the term in the U.S. Pudding may be made from scratch or a mix or may be purchased pre-made. The gelatin dessert company Jell-O is the primary producer of pudding mixtures and prepared pudding snacks.


INGREDIENTS
 
Serves 6

2 cups 1% cocoa soy milk
¼ cup natural cane sugar or fructose
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons low-fat cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, optional


1. Place soy milk, sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and vanilla extract in a saucepan.

2. If using vanilla bean, split it lengthwise with a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds.

3. Place seeds and pod in the pot with the soy milk.

4. Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken to a pudding-like consistency, about 15 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and extract the vanilla bean pod.

6. Pour pudding into 6 individual cups or 1 large bowl and chill at least 30 minutes before serving.


**From “The Taste for Living Cookbook” ** and ““Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**

http://www.dessert.net.au/oldfashioned-chocolate-pudding/