Pudding snack packs have always been a favorite of mine. So much so that I was contemplating if I could get a giant snack pack in a pretty urn in lieu of a cake for our wedding. I only wish I was joking.
When I transitioned our family to real/whole foods, snack packs got left behind. I've mourned them ever since. So imagine my delight when I found a simple homemade recipe in an old copy of a Cooking Light magazine that I stole from my mom. I've adapted it a bit to reflect ingredients we use in our house, but the base recipe is from Cooking Light.
Getting Back my Snack Pack (aka, chocolate pudding)
1/4 cup evaporated natural sugar (I use evaporated cane juice from Costco)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar (try homemade)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tblsp organic cornstarch
2 cups milk (I used raw)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tblsp organic butter
1 tsp vanilla (try homemade)
I always double this recipe. It's too good to only make a normal batch.
1) In a medium saucepan, combine sugars, cocoa powder, and cornstarch.
2) I stirred in probably about 1/2 cup of milk and made a paste. Doing this slowly will prevent lumpy pudding.
3) Gradually stir in the rest of the milk, and cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly; reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
4) In a separate bowl, whisk about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture very very slowly in to the egg. I think this is called "tempering". Basically, do this slowly or you're going to have scrambled egg pudding. This truly works best if you use an immersion blender.
5) Add the egg/milk mixture back in to the saucepan. Cook on medium-low for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter. Stir to incorporate.
6) You're supposed to put the saucepan in a pan with ice water, but I didn't and it ended up just fine. Put it in the fridge uncovered for a few hours before serving.
7) After it's cooled, serve as is, fancy it up (see below), or divvy it up to smaller containers. I portioned ours in to glass "jelly" canning jars. Theoretically, one jar would last two lunches, but I have a feeling Troy isn't concerned with serving sizes with regards to pudding...
PS, love my backsplash? Troy did the whole kitchen for under $100. It replaced rotten black wood. Love my handy hubby!
Want to take this dessert a bit further and fancy it up? This topping takes five minutes, and therefore you can serve a dessert on the weeknight that is fit for a weekend! That of course assumes you made the pudding on a different day.
In a small frying pan, heat a small sliver of butter over medium high heat.
Quarter one banana. On a plate, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of your sweetener of choice (I use evaporated cane juice - Costco). Roll the banana in the sugar.
When the butter in the frying pan starts to bubble, place the banana seed-side down in the pan.
Cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until the banana is starting to brown.
Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Serve over pudding. Enjoy the praise that is now being heaped on your by your adoring family. After a dessert of this, Jack came up to me, gave me a hug and said "I love you sooooooo much mommy". Go me.
