Rich Chocolate Pudding

I'm a sucker for a creamy, made-from-scratch pudding.  I was spoiled with my mom's vanilla pudding all growing up and once in a while I treat myself to that recipe.  But with how much I love chocolate, I've always wished I had a good chocolate pudding recipe.  Finally I found one that I really love!  I guess the key was in the ingredients... the real chocolate that you chop up into the pudding.  I had a bunch of bittersweet (70% cocoa) Ghirardelli's chocolate squares that I used and it was perfect!  I have to warn you though... do not use chocolate chips!  I was short just a bit and thought I'd cheat and use a few mini chocolate chips once.  Well those itty bitty chips did not melt all the way!  So we had chocolate chip pudding! ;) My kids loved it anyway, and I have to admit I still licked the bowl clean.  But if you want a perfectly smooth and creamy pudding, pass on the chocolate chips and use good quality chocolate that you finely chop.

Rich Chocolate Pudding

Author: Melanie

Ingredients

• 3 cups milk


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 2 Tb unsweetened cocoa powder


• 3 Tb cornstarch


• 1/4 tsp cinnamon


• 1/4 tsp salt


• 3 egg yolks


• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped *high quality like Ghirardelli's


• 2 Tb butter, cut into pieces


• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Stir together 2 3/4 cups milk and 1/2 cup sugar in large saucepan.  Heat until steaming.  Remove from heat and set aside.


2. Once milk is warmed, whisk together remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cocoa powder, corn starch, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk in yolks and remaining 1/4 cup milk.  Gradually whisk in a little of the hot milk mixture (about 1/2 cup) into bowl.  Now stir egg mixture into the saucepan.  Cook, stirring constantly with wooden spoon, over medium-low to medium heat until thickened and coats the back of the spoon - can take up to 20 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla until smooth.


3. Divide among 6 dishes, 2/3 cup in each.  Cool for 10 minutes.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours.  Top with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and serve.

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Warm Peanut Butter Fudge Pudding Cake in the Crockpot

Oh WOW--this may not look impressive but I am not kidding when I say,  it will knock your socks off and impress your guests!   This is warm, ooey, gooey, chocolatey, peanut buttery bliss!  Let me tell you, this is amazing!!  I don't know about you, but I am seriously BUSY lately.  I needed to make a fun dessert for some last minute dinner guests, and I thought of this.  Every time I serve this treat without fail, I have people begging for the recipe.  They are always so thrilled to hear that it is super easy, I mean for heavens sake, you use a crock pot and a brownie mix.  Crazy, huh?  Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you just might have heaven in a bowl!

Ok I have a couple of other things: First  is anyone doing Elf on the Shelf?  This is our first year and we are having so much fun with our little Elf  'Skittles'.  We have found him in some fun spots but I would love to know what fun your elf is doing? (in other words--please share your ideas here-- I need them:)

I also wanted to tell you about this new awesome app I started using called Red Laser.  I downloaded it right to my smart phone.  At this busy time of year, it has helped me with creating shopping list and comparing prices for the best deals.  This has been so helpful for me!  With 5 hungry boys I am always looking for ways  to stretch a dollar and with this app on  my phone it is so quick and easy now:)  With Red Laser you can also scan food items at the store and  get allergen and ingredient information.  You can also buy products directly from your phone for pickup in nearby stores. Pretty cool, huh?!  Anything to save us busy Moms time and money is worth a try, huh?!








Get the free app at RedLaser.  Hope you like it as much as me!  You can use it to find a hot deal on brownie mixes and stock up.  Trust me, you will want to make this yummy dessert again and again! Enjoy!

Warm Peanut Butter Fudge Pudding Cake in the Crockpot
submitted by Melanie~www.thesisterscafe.com

vegetable oil spray, for misting the slow cooker

Topping:
1  cup water
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Base:
1 box brownie mix
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 cup(6ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Mist the inside of a 5 quart slow cooker with oil spray.  Place 1 cup water and the brown sugar and cocoa powder in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. 3 to 4 minutes. set the pan aside.

Place the brownie mix, peanut butter, butter, eggs, and 1/4 cup of water in a large mixing bowl and stir with a large wooden spoon until well combined. 40 to 50 strokes. The batter will be very thick. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the slow cooker and spread it out evenly. Pour the brown sugar and cocoa powder mixture evenly over the batter. Place the lid on the slow cooker and set the power on high.  Bake the pudding for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and run a rubber spatula around the edge of the pudding, spreading out the liquid from the center to the edge so that all of the liquid will be absorbed. Replace the lid and continue cooking the pudding until it is nearly set, 30 minutes longer. (Mine took a little longer than the 30 minutes) Enjoy!

 

Frankenstein Pudding Cups

I made this spooky treat the other night for Family Home Evening.  It was one of those days spent hurrying from thing to thing, and it was FHE time before I knew it.  You know those kind of days.   Thankfully  I remembered seeing something like this on pinterest, and I so I whipped some Frankenstein Pudding Cups together much to the delight of my kiddos (and my husband, incidentally, who had a childhood love for snack packs).  They turned out adorable and took about 5 minutes.  Of course real, homemade food is the ideal... but sometimes instant pudding and some oreos just can't be beat!

Frankenstein Pudding Cups
Submitted by Mindy ~ The Sisters Cafe

1 small package of instant pistachio pudding, prepared according to directions on the box
12+ oreos, chopped (I use my food processor to make short work of them)

 Spoon pudding into clear cups.  Top with chopped oreos to form Frankensteins hair.  Then draw a spooky face on the cup.  Chill if desired.  Voila!  The quickest Halloween dessert you will ever make!

Mud Trifle and a Dump Truck Birthday Cake

My little boy had a birthday the week before Christmas.  I was practically nine months pregnant, and I was looking for something easy.  I saw this dump truck cake idea on the internet.  So much potential,  but the versions I saw looked painful to eat (cubed cake with hershey's chocolate syrup drizzled on top).  So I decided to come up with my own "Mud Trifle" that would taste yummy and still pull off the muddy dirt look. What a hit!  My two year old LOVED it, and all the other little kids were giggling and laughing about eating "dirt" for dessert.  Well, all except one of my niece's who needed several reassurances that it was truly NOT dirt before she would touch it. :) We had quite a few guests, so I actually made a second trifle in a pretty trifle bowl... but somehow I didn't get a picture of it.  A spin on this idea would be to buy each child a small dump truck and put a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and crushed oreos on top in the back of each one.  The small dump trucks would be your party favors.  (I saw some little dump trucks that would work perfectly at Wal-Mart for $3 each).  I wanted to do this, but with Christmas and being mega prego... it just didn't happen.  :)

PS I had my new baby boy the very next night! 8 lbs 11oz and totally adorable. :)

Mud Trifle and a Dump Truck Birthday Cake
Submitted by Mindy ~ The Sisters Cafe

1 large toy dump truck
1 chocolate cake mix (any kind will do) prepared in 9 x13 pan
1 5.1 oz instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups whipping cream
1-2 Tb of powdered sugar (optional)
1 package of oreos

Cube cake into 2 inch pieces.  Whip cream with hand mixer.  You can add 1-2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar if you like things a little sweeter.  Make pudding mix according to directions, then fold in the whipped cream.  Chop the oreos using a kitchen knife, or you could certainly crush them instead.  Layer chocolate cake cubes, pudding mixture, and oreos one at a time to fill the toy dump truck.  I made sure to set each layer back an inch or so from the previous to give the appearance of mounded dirt.  Then I made sure to glob a little of the pudding mixture out over the cake cubes at the back.  I included the picture from the back of the dump truck so you could see what I mean.  Insert the candles and enjoy!

Pumpkin Cream Trifle

Oh my goodness--this dessert is amazing! Seriously, it is one of my all time favorite fall desserts! Whenever I serve this, without fail people ask me for the recipe. I have to admit that this recipe beat me at a pumpkin themed recipe contest I was involved in at Thanksgiving Point years ago. I got second, but I had to completely agree with the judges choice. We got to sample all the entries and this was hands down the best (darn it:) I of course asked my fellow contestant for a copy of her winning recipe and she sweetly gave it to me. I have been making it ever since! This is perfect for fall and all of the holiday season. It is perfect for parties, looking very impressive and feeding lots (15-20). If you are not a pecan fan, like my husband you can use toasted almonds instead.

PS My weekly menu with recipe links here. What is on your menu?

Pumpkin Cream Trifle

submitted by Melanie courtesy of Gayle Holdman

Printable recipe here

First Layer:
1 pkg spice cake mix
1 pkg. (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup vegtable oil (can do ¼ cup applesauce, and ¼ cup oil instead)
½ cup water
3 large eggs
1tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger

Preaheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 baking pan with vegtable oil spray. Place all cake ingredients in large mixing bowl. Blend with electric mixer on low speed from 1 minute. Scrape down sides and then increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more. Batter should look think and well blended. Pour into prepared pan and backe 32-39 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool completely. (cake can be frozen at this point. Thaw at room temperature before assembling trifle.) When ready to prepare trifle, cut or tear into approx. 1 inch cubes.

Second Layer (cream):
2 pkgs. (3.4 oz) cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix
2 cups cold milk
2 cups freshly whipped cream (unsweetened)

Combine pudding mixes with milk and blend with whisk until it starts to thicken. Fold in whipped cream, then quickly assemble trifle.

Third Layer (toppings):
½ cup chopped, toasted pecans or almonds
½ cup Skor toffee bits

To assemble trifle:
Place 1/3 of cake cubes into trifle bowl. Top with 1/3 of cream mixture and sprinkle with 1/3 of nuts and toffee bits. Repeat layers two more times, ending with nuts and toffee on top. Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered no longer that 24 hours.

Patriotic Berries and Cream Trifle

Are you having one more little 4th of July Celebration today? If so this is an easy and fun dessert to serve! It was a big hit at our gathering on Friday after my son's baptism.
I served it with a Peanut Butter Chocolate Trifle found here. They were both wonderful! I especially loved that I was able to serve the desserts on my great Grandmothers china plates. Aren't they beautiful? :)

Berries and Cream Triflesubmitted by Melanie

1 recipe for Perfect Pound cake found here OR
2 Sara Lee pound cake loaves found in the freezer section
2-3 cups of Strawberries
2 cups of blueberries
1 5.1 oz instant vanilla or lemon pudding
2 cups heavy cream
2 TB powdered sugar

Bake your pound cake in 2 large loaf pans, or use the Sara Lee pound cake loaves. Cut the cake in half horizontally so it is thin enough to punch our stars with a cookie cutter. Cut out 6-8 stars. I like to use different sizes--but the one pictures just has small ones because I am visiting my Mom and that is all she had:) Cube the rest of the cake. I didn't use all of the perfect pound cake recipe. I put half of one of loaves in the freezer for later use.
Wash your berries and slice your strawberries.
Make pudding according to the package directions. Using your kitchen beaters or mixer whip the cream with the powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Fold the cream into the pudding.
In a trifle bowl, start out with cubes of cake, then put about half of the pudding mixture, and then half of the blueberries and strawberries. After the berries, then carefully put the cut out cake stars upright against the inside of the bowl, nestled into the berries and pudding. Finish off with another layer of cake cubes, pudding, and berries. I like to put a couple of stars on top with the berries in a fun design.
Chill for a couple of hours and serve!

Creamy Vanilla Pudding

One word: HEAVEN. Seriously, I love this homemade vanilla pudding. It is marvelous. It is smooth, rich, creamy, and perfectly perfect. My husband teases me about the fact that I savor every spoonful.... I won't tell you if I actually close my eyes and sit back as I slowly enjoy the delicate flavor and creamy texture..... Let's just say if I was videotaped it would be very embarrassing. :)

I remember requesting "Blancmange" for my birthday dessert instead of cake and icecream. That's how much I loved this growing up and how much I still love it to this day! (We would call it blancmange as well as vanilla pudding; they are very similar so we used the terms interchangeably.)

Thank you, Mom, for another wonderful, life-enhancing recipe! :)

 

Creamy Vanilla Pudding

Submitted by Erin ~ The Sisters Cafe

Printable Recipe

1/3 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2 c. milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 T. margarine or butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in a 2 quart saucepan. Stir in milk gradually. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir at least half of the hot mixture gradually into egg yolks. Blend into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir one minute. Remove from heat; stir in margarine and vanilla. Pour into dessert dishes. Cool slightly and serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers. Makes 4 servings.

Peanut Butter Cup Trifle Dessert

I brought this yummy trifle to a baby shower last night. Who can resist a scrumptious trifle with layers of rich chocolaty brownies, smooth pudding, and crumbled peanut butter cups?? Not I for one! And neither can anyone else, since whenever I make this it is gone in a flash. :) This delicious trifle is pretty rich, so I always save it for a party with a crowd. Mmmmmm! Thanks goes to Kaily who shared this recipe that I've now been enjoying for a few years!

You can't really appreciate it in this picture, but trifle dishes are so pretty! I always tie a pretty ribbon bow on the pedestal (although you can't see the pink bow very well in this picture. I bet you can guess it was a baby GIRL baby shower. :) ) Trifles are also super easy to put together, and the presentation is impressive. If you don't have a glass trifle dish, perhaps you could use a pretty glass serving bowl....

Peanut Butter Cup Trifle Dessert

Submitted by Erin ~ The Sisters Cafe

Printable recipe

9x13 pan of brownies, cut into 1 inch pieces
5.1 oz box instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
½ cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
8 oz container thawed whipped topping (Cool Whip), divided
20 peanut butter cups, crumbled (buy in a 10-pack. Not the bite-sized)
6-8 peanut butter cups to garnish.

Combine pudding and milk. Beat for 2 minutes. Add peanut butter and vanilla, beat until smooth. Gently fold in 2 cups cool whip.
Layer in trifle dish ½ the brownies, ½ the crumbled peanut butter cups, ½ the pudding mixture. Repeat. Top with cool whip and peanut butter cups. (Or shaved chocolate curls, as I did.) Chill until serving.

Kneaders Raspberry Bread Pudding with Vanilla Cream Sauce

Kneaders is a great bakery, cafe in Utah. Is it nationwide?? I am not sure. Anyway, they are famous around here for their baked goods, soups and desserts. Everything that I have ever had from Kneaders is wonderful. I got this recipe from my friend Sheri. I am not sure if it is the REAL Kneaders recipe--but it was fantastic! My hubby requested it this year for his birthday, instead of cake. Mmmmm--
**Tips** I did not use cream--that just seemed to rich for my tastes. I used half and half whenever it said cream in the recipe. I baked this in my Le Cresuet 9x13 deep dish baker. I had to keep it in the oven an extra 20 minutes. Next time I will use my roasting pan, it is bigger than a 9x13.

Kneaders Raspberry Bread Pudding
submitted by Melanie

Cream Mix

1 1/2 loaves aged, white bread

1 quart heavy cream

3 cups sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

In large bowl combine cream, sugar, egg and vanilla. Cut bread into 1 1/2" cubes and add to cream mixture, coating bread well. Let stand 30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes to allow cream to absorb completely.

Fruit Filling
5 cups frozen raspberries

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple juice

Combine raspberries, sugar and apple juice, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Layer a 9x13 dark baking dish 3/4 full with bread mixture, pour fruit filling over bread mixture, spreading evenly, top with remaining bread. Bake 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Serve warm. Top with vanilla sauce.

Vanilla Sauce
1 1/3 cup butter

5 tablespoons flour

3 cups heavy cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup sugar

Over medium heat melt butter, and add flour stir 10 minutes until it has a nutty aroma, do not brown. Add cream and sugar and boil till mixture is thick, remove from heat adding vanilla. Serve this wonderful sauce cold.

Toffee Butterscotch Tapioca Pudding

I first saw this recipe on another blog (Tartelette) and printed it out to try. I would definetly recommend it! It was really easy to make and my family thought it was SOOOOO yummy!

Toffee Butterscotch Tapioca Pudding

submitted by Melanie (adapted from Tartelette.blogspot.com)

1 can evaporated milk

2 egg yolks

2/3 cupwhole milk (I used to 2%)

3 Tb instant tapioca

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

3 Tb. unsalted butter
2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup toffee bits (such as Skor)

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 tsp. sugar

toffee bits and shaved chocolate for garnish

Warm the evaporated milk in a saucepan until it comes to boiling point. Reduce the heat to low and keep it warm.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, milk, tapioca and salt. Let stand 5 minutes.

Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat, add the brown sugar and cook until the sugar melts and starts to foam, about 4 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the warm evaporated milk, stirring until smooth. Be careful as it will bubble like crazy.

Add the tapioca mixture and bring the pudding to a gentle boil. Cook, stirring constantly for an additional 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla.

Pour half the pudding among 4 serving dishes, divide the toffee bits evenly on top, pour the remaining half of pudding. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it to the surface as to prevent a skin from forming. Let stand or chill until serving time. Whip the cream to soft peaks with the sugar and garnish the puddings with it. Garnish with toffee bits and shaved chocolate.
Serves 4