Split Level Pudding

It's the final day of the Blogging marathon and I had so much fun making and eating all these yummy Holiday/ Weekend special dishes. I wanted to make something sweet for the last day with the whole milk and cream I had in the refrigerator. I had rice pudding in mind, but didn't think that I had enough time to make it on a weeknight. 

When I saw this Split level pudding recipe in Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From my kitchen to yours", I decided to give it a try. Also my son has been pestering me to make pudding for a while, so went ahead and made it yesterday night.

Ingredients:

Whole milk - 2¼ cups
Sugar - 6tbsp
Corn starch - 3tbsp
Salt - ¼tsp
Egg Yolks - 3
Unsalted butter - 2tbsp, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
Pure Vanilla extract - 2½tsp

Semi-sweet chocolate - 2 oz, finely chopped
Heavy cream - 1/3 cup

Method:

• Have 6 ramekins or pudding cups about 4oz. to 6oz. capacity, at hand.
• Make the Chocolate layer: Put the chopped chocolate in a 1 or 2 cup measuring cup. Bring heavy cream to a boil in a saucepan and pour it over the chocolate. Let stand for 30 seconds, then gently stir to blend. Divide the chocolate among the ramekins and set aside.
• Bring 2 cups of milk and 3tbsp sugar to a boil in a medium heavy-bottomed sauce pan.
• In the meantime, put cornstarch and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. Remove onto a wax paper and keep aside.
• Put the remaining 3tbsp sugar and the egg yolks into the processor and blend for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and add the remaining ¼ cup of milk and pulse just to mix, then add the cornstarch & salt mixture and pulse a few times to blend.
• By this time, milk should be boiling. With the motor running, slowly stream the hot milk mixture into the food processor and process for a few seconds. 
• Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook on medium heat, whisking constantly, making sure to get the edges of the pan, until the mixture thickens and bubbles start to form on the surface, about 2 minutes. Make sure that the mixture does not boil.
• Scrape the pudding back into the food processor and pulse a couple of times. Add the butter and vanilla and pulse until everything is evenly blended.
• Pour the pudding into the ramekins.** Press a plastic wrap right on the surface of the pudding to create an airtight seal and prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

** Depending on how warm the chocolate layer is in the bottom of the ramekin, it might run up the sides of the ramekins and form a circle around the pudding (like in the pictures). If the chocolate layer is set or cold, you won't see the chocolate from the top, but will be a surprise when you dig in.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up for Day 7 of BM#11.