Chocolate Pudding Pots – for all your dinner party dessert needs! Think – a richer, more luxurious Chocolate Mousse, with a fraction of the work. Tastes sophisticated. Easy to pretty up. Make ahead 5 days!
Chocolate pudding pots
These little Chocolate Pudding Pots are everything I love in a dessert – luxurious yet not overly rich, not too sweet, and elegant enough for a fancy dinner, yet dead easy to make. It’s the sort of dessert that makes people think you’ve done something clever, when really it’s just a matter of whisking a few things together then chilling.
It’s essentially a no-bake version of Pots de Crèmes, the French chocolate custards. The texture and flavour is the same – softly creamy, melting into a river of chocolate in your mouth. But best of all, these keep beautifully for days. I stash them in the fridge and sneak spoonfuls whenever I pass by …… until I find my pot mysteriously empty. Who ate my pudding pot?!!
And yes, the “keeps for 5 days” part also makes it an excellent ready-to-go dessert, not just standby snacking food. 😀
Ingredients
While nostalgic chocolate puddings of years gone by were set just using cornflour / cornstarch, I like to use egg yolks as well which also makes it a little more luxurious without leaving a greasy mouthfeel. Plus – real chocolate, not just cocoa powder, for rich chocolate flavour. Essentially, this chocolate pudding is a variation of chocolate French pastry cream (Crème Pâtissière). 🙂
70% cocoa chocolate (bittersweet chocolate) will give this a rich chocolate flavour that’s not too sweet, as well as the dark brown chocolate colour that makes this look quite sophisticated, I think! I like to use the block form and chop it up so it melts effortlessly. The chocolate also does the bulk of the heavy lifting to set the pudding, so don’t cut down on the chocolate (or if you do, you need to dial up the cornflour – see FAQ below).
Chocolate types FAQ
Regular dark chocolate (semi-sweet chocolate in the US) can absolutely be used in this pudding! It still provides a terrific rich chocolate flavour, and as it is commonly sold in chips or melts/discs, it makes this pudding even easier to make as you don’t need to chop up a block.
Recipe adjustment – However, you will need to use a little more cornflour /cornstarch to set the pudding as dark chocolate is not as hard as 70% cocoa chocolate (this pudding relies on chocolate to help it set). Also consider reducing the sugar in the pudding by 1 tablespoon as dark chocolate is also a little sweeter than 70% cocoa.
What’s the difference between dark chocolate and 70% cocoa chocolate? Dark chocolate is ~45% cocoa so the chocolate flavour is less intense. It is also a little sweeter, the colour of the chocolate is not quite as dark brown so the pudding will be a little lighter. And dark chocolate is a little softer (rule of thumb is: less cocoa % = softer chocolate), which is why we need more cornflour to help the pudding set (per above).
This recipe isn’t designed for these as they are softer and sweeter. As mentioned above, this pudding relies on chocolate to help it set, I’d need to tweak cornflour and sugar amounts so the pudding sets properly and isn’t overly sweet.
If your chocolate comes in the form of chips or melts / discs / wafers / buttons (so many names!), there is no need to chop the chocolate. Buttons/discs are designed to melt easily, whereas chips are designed to hold their form when baked (like in Chocolate Chip Cookies) but actually, they melt fine too!
Typically (at least, here in Australia), better quality chocolate for baking comes in block form.
70% cocoa is my preference because the chocolate flavour is richer, the pudding colour is darker and it just generally makes this dessert seem more sophisticated. Having said that, I will never hesitate to make this with regular dark chocolate instead because it is still soooo good, plus it’s even faster to make using a packet of chips or melts/discs as there’s not need to chop up a block.
Chocolate blocks from the confectionary aisle made for eating is typically not suitable for cooking where the chocolate is intended to be melted. This is because eating chocolate is actually designed to not melt easily (think – chocolate bars left in your car!).
The exception to this rule – at least here in Australia – is Lindt chocolate which is a brilliant cooking chocolate but sold as an eating chocolate. Lindt chocolate blocks are tempered, a characteristic of high quality chocolate which gives it that signature glossy finish, clean “snap”, and smooth melt. Lindt is my go-to high quality chocolate for cooking purposes – like in these Chocolate Puddings!
Cocoa powder – Regular unsweetened cocoa powder, though dutch processed will work fine here too (I’d probably reduce to 1 1/2 tablespoons). Make sure you sift it, cocoa powder is notoriously lumpy!
2 large egg yolks – Use the yolks of large eggs, which are eggs ~50-55g/2oz each from cartons labelled “large eggs” (it’s a standardised industry term). Separate the yolk while fridge cold, it’s easier.
Milk and cream – The liquids for the pudding. I like using more cream than milk (1 1/2 cups cream and 1 cup milk) for a slightly richer finish. If you wanted to cut down on calories, you could absolutely make this with just low fat milk (but increase the cornflour slightly to help it set better, see recipe notes).
Cornflour / cornstarch – This helps the pudding set, though as noted above most of the setting is from the chocolate itself.
Caster sugar / superfine sugar – Regular white sugar is fine too, caster sugar is just my default because the grains are finer so they dissolve more easily.
Vanilla extract – Better than imitation vanilla essence!
Pinch of salt – Brings out the chocolate flavour, standard practice in baking these days to include a bit of salt!
How to make Chocolate Pudding Pots
In summary – whisk everything except the chocolate in a saucepan, heat to thicken, melt chocolate through, pour into pots and chill. In case you missed it above – keeps for 5 days!
Whisk everything – Put the yolks and sugar in a medium saucepan (about 20cm / 8″ wide). Whisk to combine (it will seem thick at first but then the sugar liquifies). Add the cornflour, vanilla, cocoa powder (I sift it straight in) and salt with a small splash of milk (~2 tablespoons). We need a bit of milk else the mixture is dry and clumpy. Then mix the milk and cream in – it should be a pale brown watery mixture.
Warm to thicken – Put it on a medium stove. As the mixture warms up, it will thicken slightly – not much, because the pudding is mostly set from the chocolate which we add later. Whisk every now and then at first, then more regularly as it gets warmer as it will thicken on the base. Take it off the stove as soon as you see bubbles – it will take about 5 minutes.
⚠️ Don’t be impatient like me and make the heat too stronger to speed things up, or even think you can start high then go low. You will pay the price when you’re eating scrambled egg lumps. 😭
Melt chocolate – Add the chopped chocolate and stir until fully melted. If it’s not melting fully (which could happen if some chunks were a little big!), put it back on a low stove to give it a helping hand.
Pour – Working quickly, pour the mixture into 5 glasses or other serving vessel. For 5 servings there is just shy of 1/2 cup per person, so uses glasses a little larger than this (my cocktail glasses are 3/4 cup (180 ml). You could also use one large dish – there’s 1.25 litres (5 cups) of custard so use a dish a little larger.
TIP: The faster you pour, the smoother the surface of your puddings as the mixture thickens quickly in the saucepan which will leave “ripples” on the surface of your pudding. Not a big deal, it will be hidden by cream anyway, and actually I think it looks quite nice. 🙂
Chill to set – Let the puddings cool for around 15 minutes on the counter then in chill in the fridge for 3 hours to fully set. Don’t cover as it will cause condensation which will drip onto the surface of the pudding. The pudding will set to a texture that is soft enough so it melts effortlessly into a river of chocolate in your mouth, but holds its form when you take a scoop out. As in – pudding perfection! 🙂
Decorate with a little (or a lot!) of whipped cream and a sprinkle of chopped chocolate.
I kept the garnish for this simple with just cream and a little chopped chocolate (which was originally grated chocolate but I really like the texture of chopped instead). But there’s so many more options! Here are some ideas:
A raspberry or halved strawberry and a small spring of mint;
Sprinkle of crushed nuts, pralines, leftover toffee pecans from last weeks’ layered pumpkin cake, peanut brittle or similar;
Spritz with gold dust or a little piece of edible gold foil;
Sprinkle with freeze dried strawberries or raspberries; or
Add something crunchy like a biscotti, shortbread, tuille or wafer balanced on the glass or served on the side.
What do you think? Love to know what other ideas you have for toppings! – Nagi x
Chocolate Pudding Pots FAQ
Ah yes, time to reveal my tinkering! 🙂
Old-school chocolate pudding is set with just cornflour / cornstarch and sometimes only use cocoa powder for chocolate flavour.
I wanted one that was more luxurious with a richer chocolate flavour. I don’t like to use all cream because the mouthfeel is just too greasy, so I use egg yolks instead. This also thickens the pudding so I dial the cornflour amount way back to just 1 tablespoon.
And lastly, I use real chocolate rather than just cocoa powder, for indulgent chocolate flavour!
They are virtually the same – the same texture, the same flavour and same mouthfeel. The difference is that Pots de Crèmes are baked and rely solely on eggs to set. Traditionally chocolate puddings relied solely on cornstarch. This pudding recipe I’m sharing today is a hybrid of the two as I use both eggs and cornstarch. See commentary below on development notes!
What are Pots de Crèmes? These are a classic French dessert – rich, silky smooth custards that sit somewhere between a pudding and a mousse, made with just cream, eggs, sugar, and good chocolate.
This is one of those base recipes I’ve known for as long as I can remember, so variations of it are in a number of recipes on this website, including Chocolate Cream Pie, Chocolate Custard Cake, to name a couple.
I just thought it’d be nice to share classic chocolate pudding in individual dessert portions, so that’s what initiated today’s recipe. I must confess though I tinkered with the recipe. In years gone by I used less chocolate, more sugar and less cream. I dialled up the chocolate to get a dark chocolate colour rather than pale brown, I dialled down the sugar to make it just sweet enough to compliment rather than overwhelm the chocolate flavour, and I increased the cream to make it a little richer so you get a nice luxurious mouthfeel.
Yes, just substitute the milk and cream with lactose free. If you can’t find lactose free cream, use milk instead and increase the cornflour up to 2 tablespoons.
You sure can! There is 1.25L (5 cups) of custard so use a dish that is a little larger than this.
5 days in the fridge. Not suitable for freezing!
This recipe relies on the chocolate to help it set, so you can’t just remove it to make vanilla ones. I’d have to figure out the ingredient ratios to make this without chocolate. I like the idea though! Kind of like no-bake Creme Brûlées!
Watch how to make it
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Chocolate Pudding Pots
Ingredients
- 2 large egg yolks (ie yolks of eggs ~50-55g/2oz each, from cartons labelled "large eggs")
- 1/3 cup caster sugar / superfine sugar (or regular white sugar)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder , sifted (unsweetened)
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1 cup milk , full fat is best
- 1 1/2 cups thickened cream / heavy cream , or any other regular full-fat pourable cream
- 150 g/5oz 70% cocoa chocolate (bittersweet chocolate), finely chopped – see note for dark chocolate / semi-sweet chocolate (Note 1)
- Pinch of salt
Whipped cream:
- 3/4 cup thickened cream / heavy cream or any other cream for whipping , fridge cold
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp white sugar
Garnish:
- 2 tbsp 70% cocoa chocolate (bittersweet chocolate), finely chopped (Note 1)
Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
- Whisk yolks and sugar in a saucepan, then vanilla, cocoa, cornflour and splash of milk. Whisk in remaining milk, cream and salt. Heat on medium (whisk), remove as soon as bubbles start breaking the surface Stir in chocolate, pour in glasses, chill. Decorate then serve!
FULL RECIPE:
- Whisk mixture – Put the yolks and sugar in a medium saucepan. Whisk until combined. Add the vanilla, cocoa, cornflour and a small splash of milk. Whisk until lump free. Add the remaining milk, cream and salt then whisk to combine.
- Heat gently – Put the saucepan over medium heat on the stove. Whisk every now and then initially, and more frequently as the mixture heats up as it will thicken on the base. Be sure to get right into the edges.
- Melt chocolate – As soon as gentle bubbles break the surface (about 5 minutes), remove the saucepan off the stove. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. (Note 2) ⚠️ Do not let the mixture come to a boil as this will destroy the setting abilities of cornflour! So as soon as you see a bubble, take it off the stove.
- Pour quickly and cool – Immediately pour the mixture into 5 small glasses, ramekins etc – if you are too slow, the mixture will thicken and leave ripples on the surface (it's ok, we can hide with cream!). Cool on the counter for 15 minutes then refrigerate uncovered for 3 hours until set. (Keep 5 days!)
To serve:
- Whip cream – With an electric beater, whip the cream ingredients for 1 – 1 1/2 minutes on high until softly whipped. (Stabilise the cream if making ahead)
- Decorate – Spoon a dollop on the pudding, sprinkle with chocolate and serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More dinner-party individual serving desserts
Life of Dozer
The things we do with AI……😂
What can I say except Love, Love, Love the video of Dozer! Recipe looks good!
Dozer is definitely stealing the show today! 😂
Double Dozer on this and my YT feed, with this and a great chocolate recipe, it’s a perfect start to the weekend Nagi 😉
Ha ha I love that, dancing Dozer and chocolate! 😂
After I’ve let it “refrigerate uncovered for 3 hours until set” can I cover it in cling film or will it ‘sweat’?
I’m wondering the same thing!
Yes you can Bonnie, good question, I will update the recipe 🙂 Actually you can cover it once it’s fully cold even before fully set. Thanks for the question! – N x
Hi Nagi! Thank you for your inspiring recipes. I am lactose intolerant. Can I omit the cream and just use lactose free milk and how much cornstarch should I use. Thanks
Lactose free cream is available in the supermarket
Sadly, we don’t have lactose free cream in South Africa 😥
Good morning Elbi! Increase the cornstarch to 2 tablespoons, I was using 1 1/2 tbsp with more milk and less cream and it was great, so if I went all milk I’d use 2 tbsp. – N x
When I opened the Dozer clip I laughed so hard I almost choked on my morning coffee. Thank you for a wonderful start to my day, I’m definitely going to try this dessert for the weekend.
I feel you, I had the same response when I first saw it! 😂
Is this similar to Pots De Crème?
It actually is, the flavour and texture is very similar except this is not baked and pots de creme relies only on eggs to set whereas I use a touch of cornflour. But the end result tastes virtually the same 🙂 – N x
Yum!! Looks so creamy and delish. I’d top them with the whipped cream and a couple of segments of canned mandarins, they so tangy I think they’d go well.
Dozer is an amazing dancer! It made me laugh so hard I watched it twice. Go Dozer, go!
Sorry for the rather daft question, but if I put this all into one big glass instead of 5 small glasses, would that be fine? lol
Recipe says yes it’s ok!
Hi,
It’s in the post and the FAQ.
“You sure can! There is 1.25L (5 cups) of custard so use a dish that is a little larger than this.
Hope that helps
This is a yummy recipe.
Love Dozer’s dance moves!! I have been making chocolate pudding from scratch for years but this one is definitely one to try. It sounds so rich.
The world needs more Dancing Dozer!!!
Can’t wait to make your pots de chocolat but waiting the 3 hours maybe difficult.
Hi Nagi,
If I wanted to make vanilla pudding pots, is it sufficient to simply omit the chocolate and increase the vanilla, or do I need to also reduce the amount of cream in the recipe?
Thank you!
Hi Nagi! I was wondering what you thought of a little bourbon in these? I want to make these for a party and thought it might give it a nice kick!! How much would you add?
I think YES!! Reduce the cream by 2 tablespoons then add a bit with the chocolate, once the chocolate has melted, taste then add more if you want. This recipe is actually quite forgiving, in tried it with varying levels of cornflour / liquid and the effect it had on how firm it sets was quite minimal 🙂 – N xx
Sounds delish. Can’t wait to make it. What would make it even better is if the bowl was chocolate too. No dishes to do, just eat the bowl!!
CAN YOU IMAGINE?!???
I made chocolate bowls for a chocolate mousse once – just dip inflated small balloons in melted chocolate and set them on parchment. Deflate when the chocolate has set, and fill with your favourite dessert – it makes quite a hit when served at a party!
We had a bbq tonight and I made these for dessert. They were very nice, and quite easy to make. I used some glass gu pots that I had saved and the recipe filled 5 pots to the brim with a tiny bit leftover. Next time I will try adding some orange liqueur, or maybe some crushed biscuits at the bottom as a base. The recipe reminded me of the chocolate cream pie which is a favourite in our house.
Oh yeah!!!
This is exactly my favourite kind of recipe – maximum impact for relatively minimum effort – thank you Nagi. I’m going to serve this on Christmas Day and I’m thinking a layer of black cherries in kirsch at the bottom with chocolate ‘mousse’ on top and maybe even a sneaky layer of chocolate brownie between the two! I’ll be experimenting this weekend to see which option we all prefer.
Just think of all those ‘wrong’ options that have to be disposed of somehow on this trial….. 😁
I really must have a go at this they look yummy, easy and I’ll bring out my childhood with sprinkles over the whipped cream😋
Could I substitute cream with yummy Greek yoghurt
Dang Dozer – you’ve got the moves!!
Thank you Nagi for this easy dessert – needed something like this for a little get together, just perfect!