gimme some oven

Anyone out there love Bailey’s?  Love dark chocolate?  Love 15-minute recipes?  Love being able to make a classy dessert advance that will “wow” your friends and family?

If so, you must give this pudding recipe a try!

I was randomly craving pudding this month.  So after a raid through the pantry yielded some dark chocolate and Bailey’s, I decided to give the combination a try.  (Since, as many of you know, this Bailey’s chocolate cheesecake is one of my all-time favorites!)  So I whipped up this simple pudding recipe, topped it with some homemade whipped cream and chocolate curls, and voila!  The result was a classy, decadent, absolutely delicious dessert.  And the best part (you know me!) is that it only took about 15 total minutes of prep time.

My kind of dessert.  :)

Bailey’s Dark Chocolate Pudding Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 2/3 cups of sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I prefer dark chocolate cocoa, but any works)
• 3 Tbsp. corn starch
• 1 tsp. instant coffee (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 4 oz. chopped dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
• optional toppings: whipped cream and/or dark chocolate shavings

Method:

Whisk egg in a small bowl.  Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine milk, cocoa, sugar and cornstarch.  Whisk until blended, then place over medium low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken, about 5-7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and pour one ladle of the heated mixture into the bowl with the egg and whisk quickly (in order to temper and not cook the egg).  Pour the egg mixture into the chocolate and return to medium low heat and cook until it just begins to boil.

Shut off the heat and add the chopped chocolate and butter.  Stir to combine until both are melted and mixed in.  Then stir in the Bailey’s until combined.

Pour into 3-4 wine glasses, or 6 ramekins.  Chill for a few hours before serving.  Garnish with whipped cream and shaved dark chocolate.

Ali’s Tip:

I thought this recipe had the perfect balance of Bailey’s flavor.  But the nice part about adding it in at the end is that you can control how much (or how little) you would like to add in.  A tablespoon more or less won’t make much of a difference in the consistency of the pudding.