Chocolate Marie Pudding

One can never go wrong with chocolates! And especially not this dessert! Satiny smooth and easy to make chocolate pudding with the classic digestive biscuits is a winning combo – always! Serve this delightful pudding for dinner parties or as a weekend treat. Serves: 6

Ingredients:
Milk – 7oo ml/ 3 ½ cups
Sugar – 21 tsp/ ½ cup
Cocoa powder – 3 tbsp
Vanilla custard powder/ Cornflour – 3 tbsp
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Choco chips (optional) – 2 tsps
Marie biscuit/ digestive biscuits – 16

For garnish – Any 1 or combination of 2-3 your choice

Dry roasted and broken cashew, raisins, grated chocolate, strawberries when in season, sliced bananas or caramelized bananas etc.

To serve - Shallow serving tray/ dish – 7”x 11”

Method

In a thick bottomed vessel, heat 3 cups milk. Let start to come to a boil.

Meanwhile in a small bowl mix together the remaining half cup milk, cocoa powder and vanilla custard powder (or cornflour). Mix with a hand whisk to remove lumps and combine well till smooth. Set aside.

When milk comes to a boil, add sugar and stir to dissolve.

Stir the cocoa-custard mixture once and pour into the milk-sugar at a slight whilst stirring the milk in the vessel constantly to avoid any lumps. Add choco chips if adding. Stir constantly and continue to cook over very low heat till it thickens and coats the back of a spoon and you are able to draw a line. This may take about 2 to 3 mins or depending on the quality of the custard powder.

Remove from heat when done, add vanilla essence and continue to whisk for 5 more mins as it cooks down to avoid forming any cream layer on top. This is optional.

Let custard cool to just warm.

Take the serving dish and arrange a layer of8 biscuits as base. Top with half the chocolate custard and level it. Cover it with remaining 8 biscuits & pour remaining custard over it, level it.

Decorate with your choice of garnish on top. Chill in refrigerator till set, at least 3 to 4 hours.

Serve chilled!

My Notes

1. If the custard thickens and is level to pour over the biscuit for layering, add 2-3 tbsps of milk and blend with hand whisk (or even in a blender!) and then pour.

2. You could dip the biscuits in plain milk to soften and then arrange in baking tray.

3. You could dip the biscuits in some coffee decoction and then arrange in baking try. For coffee decoction, mix 1 cup hot water with 1 to 2 tsps instant coffee powder.

4. You could serve only the pudding too without layering it.

5. Use serving dish of any shape/ size.

6. You could layer the pudding in 3 to 4 layers too instead of 2. 

Prathima Rao is a food writer based in Mangalore. Born and brought up amongst hardcore food enthusiasts, cooking and food have always been important to Prathima.