Pudding Bliss: Chocolate

This pudding is from Caroline at A Cozy Kitchen. Full instructions here. It's originally from Abi at Vanilla & Lace here. Big thanks to both talented cooks!

It's four kinds of awesome:

1. It's in-your-face Chocolate
2. It is creamy, silky, and decadent while being dairy-free
3. No eggs are involved
4. I don't suck at making it.

It also didn't require a microwave, double-boiler, or thermometer. Prep and clean up were easy. It makes four very rich servings.

The love of my life and father of my children cannot eat any dairy. He sometimes makes pudding from an ordinary mix, using half the amount of liquid milk replacement (soy, rice, or almond), but he hasn't found it very satisfying. Left to my own laziness, I'd never have given up Jello pudding, 'though it's not quite as chocolate as I want.

But this is not significantly slower than using a mix from a box, and it's a different creature altogether. I nailed it the first time. The only thing to note is that it isn't very sweet, so the sweetness of your solid chocolate matters a lot. The recipe calls for chocolate chips (which often contain dairy, btw) but I used a Belgian dark chocolate instead.

Using the Belgian chocolate resulted in a very rich pudding that wasn't super sweet. My kids would not have liked it had I offered them any. It tasted good hot, but the bouquet of the coconut wasn't evident till it chilled. To balance the intensity of the chocolate, we drizzled it with a little fruit preserves. Sour cherry preserves are pictured on the spoon, but raspberry or any other chocolate-friendly fruit would work well.

I think this would also make a very good chocolate pie with fresh fruit in season.

Tip: if you have access to an Asian grocery, canned coconut milk is usually much cheaper there.