Chocolate Pudding Pots – for all your (effortless!) dinner party dessert needs. Think – a richer, more luxurious Chocolate Mousse, with a fraction of the work. Tastes sophisticated. Easy to pretty up. Make ahead 5 days!
Chocolate pudding pots
These little Chocolate Pudding Pots are everything I love in a dessert – luxurious yet not overly rich, not too sweet, and elegant enough for a fancy dinner, yet dead easy to make. It’s the sort of dessert that makes people think you’ve done something clever, when really it’s just a matter of whisking a few things together then chilling.
It’s essentially a no-bake version of Pots de Crèmes, the French chocolate custards. The texture and flavour is the same – softly creamy, melting into a river of chocolate in your mouth. But best of all, these keep beautifully for days. I stash them in the fridge and sneak spoonfuls whenever I pass by …… until I find my pot mysteriously empty. Who ate my pudding pot?!!
And yes, the “keeps for 5 days” part also makes it an excellent ready-to-go dessert, not just standby snacking food. 😀
Ingredients
While nostalgic chocolate puddings of years gone by were set just using cornflour / cornstarch, I like to use egg yolks as well which also makes it a little more luxurious without leaving a greasy mouthfeel. Plus – real chocolate, not just cocoa powder, for rich chocolate flavour. Essentially, this chocolate pudding is a variation of chocolate French pastry cream (Crème Pâtissière). 🙂
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70% cocoa chocolate will give this a rich chocolate flavour that’s not too sweet, as well as the dark brown chocolate that makes this look quite sophisticated, I think! I like to use the block form and chop it up so it melts effortlessly. The chocolate also does the bulk of the heavy lifting to set the pudding, so don’t cut down on the chocolate (or if you do, you need to dial up the cornflour – see FAQ).
Chocolate options and notes:
– Regular dark chocolate is ~45% cocoa so the chocolate flavour is less intense plus it’s a little sweeter so consider reducing the sugar by 1 tablespoon (the approximate amount of extra sugar in dark chocolate v 70% cocoa), plus also the colour is not quite as dark brown.
– Melts (buttons/discs) or chips – no need to chop the chocolate. Buttons/discs are designed to melt easily, whereas chips are designed to hold their form when baked (like in Chocolate Chip Cookies) but actually, they melt fine too!
– Milk chocolate or white chocolate – This recipe isn’t designed for these as they are softer and sweeter. I’d need to tweak cornflour and sugar amounts so the pudding sets properly and isn’t overly sweet.
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Cocoa powder – Regular unsweetened cocoa powder, though dutch processed will work fine here too (I’d probably reduce to 1 1/2 tablespoons). Make sure you sift it, cocoa powder is notoriously lumpy!
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2 large egg yolks – Use the yolks of large eggs, which are eggs ~50-55g/2oz each from cartons labelled “large eggs” (it’s a standardised industry term). Separate the yolk while fridge cold, it’s easier.
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Milk and cream – The liquids for the pudding. I like using more cream than milk (1 1/2 cups cream and 1 cup milk) for a slightly richer finish. If you wanted to cut down on calories, you could absolutely make this with just low fat milk (but increase the cornflour slightly to help it set better, see recipe notes).
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Cornflour / cornstarch – This helps the pudding set a bit.
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Caster sugar / superfine sugar – Regular white sugar is fine too, caster sugar is just my default because the grains are finer so they dissolve more easily.
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Vanilla extract – Better than imitation vanilla essence!
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Pinch of salt – Brings out the chocolate flavour, standard practice in baking these days to include a bit of salt!
How to make Chocolate Pudding Pots
In summary – whisk everything except the chocolate in a saucepan, heat to thicken, melt chocolate through, pour into pots and chill. In case you missed it above – keeps for 5 days!
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Whisk everything – Put the yolks and sugar in a medium saucepan (about 20cm / 8″ wide). Whisk to combine (it will seem thick at first but then the sugar liquifies). Add the cornflour, vanilla, cocoa powder (I sift it straight in) and salt with a small splash of milk (~2 tablespoons). We need a bit of milk else the mixture is dry and clumpy. Then mix the milk and cream in – it should be a pale brown watery mixture.
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Warm to thicken – Put it on a medium stove. As the mixture warms up, it will thicken slightly – not much, because the pudding is mostly set from the chocolate which we add later. Whisk every now and then at first, then more regularly as it gets warmer as it will thicken on the base. Take it off the stove as soon as you see bubbles – it will take about 5 minutes.
⚠️ Don’t be impatient like me and make the heat too stronger to speed things up, or even think you can start high then go low. You will pay the price when you’re eating scrambled egg lumps. 😭
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Melt chocolate – Add the chopped chocolate and stir until fully melted. If it’s not melting fully (which could happen if some chunks were a little big!), put it back on a low stove to give it a helping hand.
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Pour – Working quickly, pour the mixture into 5 glasses or other serving vessel. For 5 servings there is just shy of 1/2 cup per person, so uses glasses a little larger than this (my cocktail glasses are 3/4 cup (180 ml). You could also use one large dish – there’s 1.25 litres (5 cups) of custard so use a dish a little larger.
TIP: The faster you pour, the smoother the surface of your puddings as the mixture thickens quickly in the saucepan which will leave “ripples” on the surface of your pudding. Not a big deal, it will be hidden by cream anyway, and actually I think it looks quite nice. 🙂
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Chill to set – Let the puddings cool for around 15 minutes on the counter then in chill in the fridge for 3 hours to fully set. Don’t cover as it will cause condensation which will drip onto the surface of the pudding. The pudding will set to a texture that is soft enough so it melts effortlessly into a river of chocolate in your mouth, but holds its form when you take a scoop out. As in – pudding perfection! 🙂
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Decorate with a little (or a lot!) of whipped cream and a sprinkle of chopped chocolate.
I kept the garnish for this simple with just cream and a little chopped chocolate (which was originally grated chocolate but I really like the texture of chopped instead). But there’s so many more options! Here are some ideas:
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A raspberry or halved strawberry and a small spring of mint;
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Sprinkle of crushed nuts, pralines, leftover toffee pecans from last weeks’ layered pumpkin cake, peanut brittle or similar;
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Spritz with gold dust or a little piece of edible gold foil;
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Sprinkle with freeze dried strawberries or raspberries; or
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Add something crunchy like a biscotti, shortbread, tuille or wafer balanced on the glass or served on the side.
What do you think? Love to know what other ideas you have for toppings! – Nagi x
Chocolate Pudding Pots FAQ
Ah yes, time to reveal my tinkering! 🙂
Old-school chocolate pudding is set with just cornflour / cornstarch and sometimes only use cocoa powder for chocolate flavour.
I wanted one that was more luxurious with a richer chocolate flavour. I don’t like to use all cream because the mouthfeel is just too greasy, so I use egg yolks instead. This also thickens the pudding so I dial the cornflour amount way back to just 1 tablespoon.
And lastly, I use real chocolate rather than just cocoa powder, for indulgent chocolate flavour!
They are virtually the same – the same texture, the same flavour and same mouthfeel. The difference is that Pots de Crèmes are baked and rely solely on eggs to set. Traditionally chocolate puddings relied solely on cornstarch. This pudding recipe I’m sharing today is a hybrid of the two as I use both eggs and cornstarch. See commentary below on development notes!
What are Pots de Crèmes? These are a classic French dessert – rich, silky smooth custards that sit somewhere between a pudding and a mousse, made with just cream, eggs, sugar, and good chocolate.
This is one of those base recipes I’ve known for as long as I can remember, so variations of it are in a number of recipes on this website, including Chocolate Cream Pie, Chocolate Custard Cake, to name a couple.
I just thought it’d be nice to share classic chocolate pudding in individual dessert portions, so that’s what initiated today’s recipe. I must confess though I tinkered with the recipe. In years gone by I used less chocolate, more sugar and less cream. I dialled up the chocolate to get a dark chocolate colour rather than pale brown, I dialled down the sugar to make it just sweet enough to compliment rather than overwhelm the chocolate flavour, and I increased the cream to make it a little richer so you get a nice luxurious mouthfeel.
Yes, just substitute the milk and cream with lactose free. If you can’t find lactose free cream, use milk instead and increase the cornflour up to 2 tablespoons.
You sure can! There is 1.25L (5 cups) of custard so use a dish that is a little larger than this.
5 days in the fridge. Not suitable for freezing!
This recipe relies on the chocolate to help it set, so you can’t just remove it to make vanilla ones. I’d have to figure out the ingredient ratios to make this without chocolate. I like the idea though! Kind of like no-bake Creme Brûlées!
Watch how to make it
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Chocolate Pudding Pots
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Chill to set: 3 hours
Dessert
Western
Servings5
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Instructions
ABBREVIATED RECIPE:
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Whisk yolks and sugar in a saucepan, then vanilla, cocoa, cornflour and splash of milk. Whisk in remaining milk, cream and salt. Heat on medium (whisk), remove as soon as bubbles start breaking the surface Stir in chocolate, pour in glasses, chill. Decorate then serve!
FULL RECIPE:
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Whisk mixture – Put the yolks and sugar in a medium saucepan. Whisk until combined. Add the vanilla, cocoa, cornflour and a small splash of milk. Whisk until lump free. Add the remaining milk, cream and salt then whisk to combine.
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Heat gently – Put the saucepan over medium heat on the stove. Whisk every now and then initially, and more frequently as the mixture heats up as it will thicken on the base. Be sure to get right into the edges.
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Melt chocolate – As soon as gentle bubbles break the surface (about 5 minutes), remove the saucepan off the stove. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. (Note 2)
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Pour quickly and cool – Immediately pour the mixture into 5 small glasses, ramekins etc – if you are too slow, the mixture will thicken and leave ripples on the surface (it’s ok, we can hide with cream!). Cool on the counter for 15 minutes then refrigerate uncovered for 3 hours until set. (Keep 5 days!)
Recipe Notes:
If using melts (buttons/discs) or chips, no need to chop the chocolate.
This recipe isn’t suitable for milk chocolate or white chocolate which are softer and sweeter, so I’d need to tweak cornflour and sugar amounts in the recipe.
2. Melting the chocolate – If your chocolate won’t fully melt (perhaps if you had some larger chunks), pop the saucepan back on a low stove to give it a helping hand.
Storage – Keeps for 5 days in the fridge. What a brilliant ready-to-use dessert, especially if you use a stabiliser so you can whip the cream ahead! Cover with cling wrap or put in a large container once fully chilled (don’t cover while warm, it will sweat). Not suitable for freezing,
Nutrition per serving, chocolate pudding only (not the cream).
Nutrition Information:
Calories: 518cal (26%)Carbohydrates: 35g (12%)Protein: 7g (14%)Fat: 42g (65%)Saturated Fat: 26g (163%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 164mg (55%)Sodium: 44mg (2%)Potassium: 181mg (5%)Fiber: 4g (17%)Sugar: 28g (31%)Vitamin A: 1232IU (25%)Vitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 119mg (12%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
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