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Chocolate Pudding Pots
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4.92 from 12 votes

Chocolate Pudding Pots

Recipe video above. Chocolate Pudding Pots - for all your (effortless!) dinner party dessert needs. Think - a richer, more luxurious Chocolate Mousse, with a quarter of the effort. Tastes sophisticated. Easy to pretty up. Brilliant ready-to-go dessert: make ahead 5 days!
I particularly like that it's not too sweet, this one is all about rich chocolate flavour. Use 70% chocolate if you can and chop it up yourself, though if speed is of the essence (and budget too) dark chocolate chips or buttons are still great..
Makes 5 pots just shy of 1/2 cup each which is good portion for dessert. TIP: Whip the cream ahead too, just stabilise it.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Chill to set3 hours
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Western
Keyword: chocolate pots, chocolate pudding, dinner party dessert, easy dinner party dessert, elegant dessert, make ahead dessert
Servings: 5
Calories: 518cal
Author: Nagi

Equipment

  • 5 x ~3/4 cup (180 ml) glasses, cups, ramekins or jars (each serving is just shy of 1/2 cup / 125 ml)

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)
Cups - Metric

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!

Notes

1. Chocolate - 70% cocoa chocolate will give this a luscious sophisticated flavour that's not too sweet.
Dark chocolate / semi-sweet chocolate is also terrific but you'll need to increase the cornflour / cornstarch to 3 tablespoons as the chocolate is softer than 70% cocoa, and this pudding relies on the chocolate to help it set.
If using melts (buttons/discs) or chips, no need to chop the chocolate!
Recipe not suitable for milk chocolate or white chocolate which are softer and sweeter, so I'd need to tweak cornflour and sugar amounts in the recipe.
2. Melting the chocolate - If your chocolate won't fully melt (perhaps if you had some larger chunks), pop the saucepan back on a low stove to give it a helping hand.
Storage - Keeps for 5 days in the fridge.  What a brilliant ready-to-use dessert, especially if you use a stabiliser so you can whip the cream ahead! Cover with cling wrap or put in a large container once fully chilled (don't cover while warm, it will sweat). Not suitable for freezing,
Nutrition per serving, chocolate pudding only (not the cream).

Nutrition

Calories: 518cal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 164mg | Sodium: 44mg | Potassium: 181mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 1232IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 119mg | Iron: 1mg