Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding

Last Saturday morning, I woke up with a head cold and a pudding hankering and decided that answering my craving would remedy my illness. Well it did, but not until I had navigated through a minefield of pudding recipes that called for everything from water baths and oven time to egg yolks and butter.  My favorite butterscotch pudding recipe takes 15 minutes to make and 30 to cool, yet I found one chocolate pudding recipe (highly rated at least) that called for seven hours of total preparation time and another that required two pots, a blender, and some baking—egads that's unreasonable. Thankfully, Smitten Kitchen had the answer, and this intense, chocolatey pudding emerged after 24 minutes of practically unattended cooking and one nap's worth of chill time in the fridge—a delicious, three-step cure to any cold.

Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used 60%, you could also do high-quality semi-sweet for more classic flavor)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1.  Combine cornstarch, sugar, and salt in the top of a double boiler.  Slowly add the milk, whisking to make sure all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Place over gently simmering water, and stir occasionally, making sure to scrape the bottom and sides with a heat-proof spatula.  Use a whisk as necessary to prevent lumps.  After 15 to 20 minutes, mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Add chocolate, and continue stirring for about four minutes until pudding is smooth and thickened.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.

2.  Strain pudding through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl or measuring cup with a pour spout.  Discard lumps from strainer, and divide pudding between six bowls.

3.  Place plastic wrap directly atop pudding if you don't like pudding skins, or just over the bowl if you do.  Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour (mine was at a good, cool pudding temperature after an hour).  Pudding will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to three days.