Mention chocolate pudding to a friend, even on the phone, you can feel their brain pleasure centres light up, their chest warm and their hearts fly open.
Their verbal response will probably be "my Mother used to make me chocolate pudding... from a mix!" My-T-Fine, Jello, etc., will be the names that follow. Imagine if your love didn't need to mentioned with a brand affiliation. The love you garner from making chocolate pudding from scratch, for now and the future, will be attributed to you, and you alone.
Love -- isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about?
Chocolate pudding is really easy to make from scratch, and from the following video from my new webseries "Live Like Viv!" I show you how. I am launching this new web series to bring viewers into my extravagant and beautiful lifestyle -- the lifestyle of an artist, chef, designer and urban farmer!
Here is the recipe:
For Valentine's day, nothing is more delicious and romantic than a bowl of extremely chocolaty pudding. In my version of this chocolate pudding, I use vodka cherries, made from preserving cherries on the stem in a bottle of vodka with sugar, or you can use commercial cherry liquor.
2/3 cup cocoa
2 tbs cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups 2% milk
1/2 cup 18% cream
2 tsps vanilla
2 tbs cherry liquor or 2 tbs from 'Live Like Viv' vodka cherries
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Sift cocoa and corn starch into a saucepan. Add sugar. Whisk in milk, put on a medium flame. When the cocoa is amalgamated in the milk, switch to a silicone spatula. Mix constantly, scraping up the bottom, or else a skin will form. When the mixture has thickened and is slightly bubbling around the edges, add the liquor, cream, vanilla, chocolate chips. Stir until mixed. Remove from heat, and divide into six ramekin or other serving dishes of your choice. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve and be prepared for the love!
Visit www.LiveLikeViv.com for more episodes, and be sure to visit www.VivianReiss.com for more of Vivian Reiss' recipes and videos.