Some of my earliest and fondest kitchen memories are of making pudding with my grandma. I remember standing on the step stool at her stove, stirring – and stirring – the pot of warm, cocoa-y milk until at last it began to thicken. I thought its transformation from liquid to lava was absolutely magical.
After we poured it into little glass ramekins and put it in the refrigerator to set, the wait to eat it seemed endless. Looking back, I think there was something about the process and the anticipation of it that added to the experience.
In today’s instant-pudding world, I treasure the slowed-down, old-fashioned method more than ever. Besides bringing back good memories and connecting me with a dearly departed matriarch, re-creating this dessert at home from scratch means I can also tailor it to get my creamy chocolate fix in a more healthful way.
To do that, I use 1 percent milk, which provides just enough body and, of course, a wealth of nutrients while keeping saturated fat and calories low. Using high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder means there’s some real antioxidant power, too. (Be sure to get “un-Dutched” or “natural” cocoa powder, because the Dutching process, an alkaline treatment, destroys the protective compounds.) I double the rich chocolate flavor by melting in a chunk of dark chocolate at the end, and I keep added sugar to a minimum so the pudding is just sweet enough.