Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Puddings

I can only go so long without making another chocolate peanut butter dessert…the flavor combination is absolutely, positively one of my favorites!

I received some fanTAStic dark chocolate in the mail through BlakeMakes recently; Amano Artisan Chocolate was doing a giveaway for all food bloggers that had signed up on the BlakeMakes web site and were interested…and really, no one had to ask me twice. Amano makes really high-quality, absolutely delicious chocolate — they handcraft each batch in small quantities, using traditional machinery. Their Jembrana bar, which is what I received in this giveaway, is made from beans harvested in Bali, Indonesia. The chocolate is delicious on it’s own; the description that came with it says it has flavors of honey, spice, and fig. I couldn’t quite taste the fig, but it was pleasantly fruity and had a really smooth texture…great, great eating chocolate. We ate some and the rest I used in a half-batch of pudding.

The peanut butter pudding layer was good….but…

…the chocolate pudding layer was to die for. I could have eaten a huge bowl of it. Well, maybe not a huge bowl – sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach. I halved the original recipe, and then thought to myself “oh, well, 3 servings is an odd number so I’ll just make 2 servings out of it instead.” Consequently we had hefty portions of the pudding. Not to be deterred, I just made a lighter dinner so we’d have ample stomach capacity to polish it all off!

More chocolate peanut butter goodness:

• chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting
• chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake
• peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies
• peanut chocolate chunk blondies

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Adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2009

The original recipe used milk chocolate, but I’m a huge fan of dark. Also, I used milk for all of the liquid, in lieu of a milk/cream combination. I’d use a whole milk or 2%, but no lower – you need some fat in there for creaminess.

View printable recipe

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Pudding:
1/2 cup sugar
5 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup creamy (smooth) natural peanut butter (made with only peanuts and salt)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dark Chocolate Pudding:
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
2 cups whole milk
4 ounces good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
chocolate shavings or curls, or cocoa

Directions
Make the peanut butter pudding:

Place the first 3 ingredients in a large saucepan and whisk them to blend. Whisk in the milk and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Boil until thick, whisking constantly, about 30 seconds. Whisk in the peanut butter, then boil until thick again, whisking constantly, about 1 minute longer. Turn off the heat and whisk in the vanilla, then divide among 6 glasses. Chill, uncovered, while you make the chocolate pudding.

Make the chocolate pudding:

Whisk the first 4 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Gradually whisk in the milk, then whisk over medium heat until mixture comes to boil. Boil until thick, whisking constantly, about 30 seconds. Add the chopped chocolate and continue boiling until the chocolate melts and the pudding is thick again, whisking often, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Turn off the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Cool the pudding 5 minutes, then spoon it atop the peanut butter pudding in the glasses, dividing equally (about 1/3 cup each). Chill puddings uncovered until cold, at least 2 hours.

When you’re ready to serve, whip the cream with the powdered sugar into soft peaks. Spoon whipped cream on top of the puddings and garnish with shaved chocolate or cocoa.

Makes 6 servings.