28 May 2011

The Great Chocolate Pudding Experiment

The kids gave me these cute little jelly cups because they match the colours of the website and my blog.
A few days ago a question was asked on the Member Forum for a chocolate pudding recipe. As usual, one of our talented Cheapskaters shared a recipe, which led to some questions.

In the interests of all things Cheapskates, and because I too happen to like chocolate just about anything, including pudding, I volunteered to make the pudding to see how it turned out.

After a few attempts, it turned out very nicely. No complaints from anyone, and no leftovers. I re-jigged the recipe a little to suit our tastes and the results of the second taste test were even more positive if that's possible. This time the testers were arguing over who was going to scrape out the saucepan and lick the spoon.

This is the final recipe:

Chocolate Puddings
Ingredients:

1 litre cool water
1 cup skim milk powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornflour
1/4 cup cocoa
1tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan, whisking to remove all the lumps. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring constantly. Turn heat down and simmer 1 minute, or until the custard is thick. Cool slightly then pour into serving dishes. Makes 8  1/2 cup servings.

My notes:
1.  You can use fresh milk instead of the water and milk powder, this will increase the cost.
2.  One cup of sugar may seem a lot, but this pudding seems to need the sweetness. You can substitute Splenda or another sugar substitute if you prefer.
3.  I use Homebrand cocoa and it is quite strong and can leave a bitter taste, hence the vanilla extract. It seems to round out the chocolate flavour. You could use another less bitter cocoa if you have one, in which case you may not need the vanilla.
4.  If you have a double boiler, use it to make this pudding. It will stop it sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
5.  Whisk, and don't stop until it's finished cooking. You want this pudding to have the same silky smooth texture as the bought Yogo puddings.

I wouldn't make this every day, it has a high sugar content, but as a treat every now and then it is easy, quick and relatively cheap at just 21 cents a serve.

Costings: Chocolate Pudding

1L water
--
1 cup skim milk powder
$0.60
1 cup sugar
$0.20
1/2 cup cornflour
$0.30
1/4 cup cocoa
$0.55
1 tsp vanilla extract
$0.10
Total Cost
$1.75 (21 cents per serve)

It did occur to me that this might make a good meal for sick tummies or sore throats as it's cool, smooth and quite light. To make it more nourishing, whisk in two eggs before cooking and reduce the cornflour to a quarter cup.

3 comments:

  1. My mom and grandmother made chocolate pudding and butterscotch pudding in a double boiler. I never ate pudding from a box or cup till I was an adult. She did use real milk though as we had dairy cows. You can also use the recipe in a pre-baked pie shell for pie and beat the whites of 2 eggs with 3 T sugar and 1/2t vanilla for meringue.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Charlene, Wayne loves meringue pies! If I ever want to get him to do something he doesn't want to do I "bribe" him with a lemon meringue. It's become a family joke, I'm sure he becomes stubborn just to get a piece of pie.

    I have to admit if I'm cooking a sauce or custard on the stove these days I use the double boiler, saves so many stuck bottoms.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you leave the sugar out until the pudding has finished cooking, you reduce the chance of it burning on the bottom.

    ReplyDelete

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