Creamy Chocolate Pudding

 10 March 2021

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, September 2011

I have written about this recipe a few times in the blog but I have not described it in any detail, until now. A few weeks prior to making this I made chocolate pudding using a different recipe. Making chocolate pudding with two different recipes back-to-back allowed us to compare the two and to conclude which we preferred.

Vanilla and espresso powder were mixed together in a small bowl; I used one half of the amount of espresso powder listed in the recipe. Sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt were sifted through a fine-mesh strainer into a large saucepan. Egg yolks and cream were whisked into the mixture of dry ingredients then milk was added and whisked to combine. Over medium heat the mixture was cooked with constant whisking until thickened and bubbling over the entire surface. Off heat, butter and bittersweet chocolate were added and whisked until melted then the vanilla mixture was whisked in to the pudding. The pudding was poured through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl and chilled for four hours. Total time, except for chilling, was 40 minutes.

This pudding is very easy to make. It has a great chocolate flavor and is very smooth and creamy. We found it to be creamier and more chocolatey than pudding made with the other recipe and it is certainly our favorite, especially given that it is not significantly more difficult nor time consuming to make.

Chocolate Pudding

 2 March 2021

Recipe from Cook's Country, February 2011

I have made chocolate pudding from scratch many times and written about it in this blog, though not in detail. When deciding to have it again I found a different recipe that might prove to be even easier. So for the first time ever I did something like a side-by-side recipe testing. In this post I write about the recipe that I found just recently. In the subsequent post I'll describe the recipe for Creamy Chocolate Pudding that I have made before, and will declare which of the two, if either, we prefer. 

It was interesting to have a chocolate pudding recipe that included brown sugar but no eggs. Light brown sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt were combined in a large saucepan. Milk and cream were added and whisked until smooth. Milk chocolate chips were then added and the mixture was brought to a simmer then cooked, with constant whisking, until thickened and large bubbles appeared at the surface (which they only did when pausing whisking). Vanilla extract was whisked in off heat, the pudding was transferred to a large bowl, and refrigerated until completely cool. Except for cooling it only took 35 minutes to make the pudding.

This was a good chocolate pudding. It had an interesting flavor, though, not as chocolatey as it might be though it did have some notes of coffee and brown sugar. It was smooth with a few soft lumps suggesting it may have been overcooked while waiting for those large bubbles to appear.

French Bread Pizza

 1 March 2021

Recipe from Cook's Country, June 2020

I recently watched a video demonstration of pizza being made using store-bought French bread. While I had low expectations, mainly about the thickness and texture of the bread, I thought it was worth a try as it promised a quick route to homemade pizza. Even if it wasn't as good as other homemade pizza the convenience could make it attractive. The only way to find out is to try it and I found a recent Test Kitchen recipe for the trial.

The recipe provided several challenges. It specified ¾ cup of crumbled bacon, but how much bacon do you cook to get this much? The bread specified was 24x4 inches (would this fit on a half sheet pan?) but the bread in our supermarket is 13x4 inches. The amount of crushed tomatoes (1½ cups) and pineapple tidbits were odd, not corresponding to the sizes of cans of these commonly available  ingredients. 

But pressing on, 8 slices (14 ounces) of thick-cut bacon were placed in the oven on a quarter sheet pan to cook. While the bacon cooked sauce was made from crushed tomatoes (I mashed and drained petit diced tomatoes), extra virgin olive oil, Italian seasoning, sugar, salt, and pepper. While the bacon cooked, the bread was cut in half crosswise then each piece was halved horizontally. The crust side of the bread pieces was brushed with vegetable oil. When the bacon was done, melted butter was mixed with garlic powder, salt, and red pepper flakes which was then brushed on the cut sides of the bread. This was placed, cut side up, on a sheet pan covered with aluminum foil, the baked in a 450° oven until browned. The sauce was spread on the bread, topped with shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan cheeses, crumbled bacon, and pineapple tidbits. It was baked at 450° until the cheese was melted, allowed to cool for 5 minutes, then served. We got 2 meals from this recipe. The total preparation time was about 95 minutes, but 40 of these were used to cook the bacon. 

The pizza was not bad and not as bready as I had feared. However, it wasn't good either. We found it to be too spicy and too salty. Preparing it created several leftover ingredients, generated a lot of dirty dishes, and used a lot of paper towels, primarily to dry the toppings. I don't expect we'll be making it again, it was just not convenient enough to make up for all of the negatives.