Chocolate and frangelico custard

Remember instant pudding from when you were a kid? Well, this isn’t it. It’s a delectable sweet pudding made with a custard base and good, bitter chocolate. You can omit the Frangelico if you like and replace it with coffee, or simply add malt for the kids.

Credit: Alan Benson

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 ml (2 cups) milk
• 100 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 40 g cornflour
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3 egg yolks
• 110 g (½ cup) caster sugar
• 80 ml (⅓ cup) Frangelico or other liqueur, plus extra, to drizzle
• 60 g hazelnuts, toasted, roughly chopped

You will need 4 teacups or glasses for this recipe.

Chilling time 2 hours

Instructions

Place the milk and chocolate in a large saucepan over low heat and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring until chocolate has dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the cornflour and cocoa in a large bowl. Add 100 ml of the chocolate milk and whisk to form a smooth paste. Whisk in egg yolks and sugar, then stir in the remaining chocolate milk.

Pour mixture into a clean saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until mixture comes to the boil and is thick and smooth. If it becomes lumpy, whisk like crazy to break up the lumps. Remove from the heat and stir in the Frangelico. If you’d like the Frangelico flavour, but not the alcohol, you can boil the custard for a further minute after adding the liqueur.

Pour mixture into 4 glasses or teacups (if you’re using glasses, make sure they are warm to prevent shattering). Cover each loosely with plastic wrap, spike a couple of holes into the plastic to let the custard breath, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. To serve, sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts and, if you’re keen, drizzle with a little Frangelico.

Photography Alan Benson

As seen in Feast magazine, November 2013, Issue 26.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.