Pudding won't set... now what?

I sez to myself, I sez: Self, you got two cups of milk just sitting there waiting to go bad. Do something wit' 'em now. I very briefly considered making bread pudding but I did not have any old bread on hand and did not have the time to wait to stale* some up. But I did has (and still do has) some good 57% chocolate from the nice people at Lake Champlain Chocolates so found me a chocolate pudding recipe. I goes to town but either there wasn't enough cornstarch or I didn't simmer it long enough.

So now I have some very tasty chocolate soup of a medium consistency.

And V-Day approaching.

His Pumpkin-osity thinks we can just drink it like a milkshake but I think it's a little too thick/rich for that. My thought is to try freezing it up somehow... in tubes like a popsicle (fudgsicle!), in ramekins (invert on a plate, strew with chocolate chips and orange zest), or churn for ice cream (but no eggs so not sure I'll get a good texture). I thought about drizzling it over pound cake but His P has nixed any ideas that involve boring cake bases. Maybe whip some cream, fold it in, and hope a mousse happens? (sounds more like fool though)

Anybody have any other ideas about what to do with yummy chocolate goo?



*Note: The use of 'stale' as a transitive verb is highly suspect.

Eat as-is and call it something else!

[Jenise]

Funny post! But a serious problem. My first instinct would be to go the mousse route.

I froze a ladle of it overnight. Definitely fudgsicle territory but I think I'm going the mousse way: I'll stir in some Cointreau and then some really stiff (sweetened?) cream. Will be good.

I thought folks might appreciate hearing the end of this tale.

I did just as I said I would: beat a pint of cream till stiff, dosed it with Cointreau and 10x sugar, and folded it into the chocolate goo. This was about a 1:1 blend so it took down the chocolatey-ness quite a lot but improved the texture. I broke a couple amaretti over the top and served.

I put the rest away. The next day, there was firm mousse floating on top and chocolate soup underneath. This went on, day after day, no matter how much I took out each time! So, I don't think I was just eating into the mass of mousse: I think I had gotten the mixture to just the right consistency for gravity to be the deciding factor between solid and liquid. Very strange and I doubt I could do it again.

When all was said and done, I might have preferred the fudgsicles.

I sez to myself, I sez: Self, you ain't goin' trou dat agin. I remembered a place that sells bread that's been sitting out all day. Bread pudding on the hoof, if you ketch my drif'. It's in the hot box now: eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, vanilla, Grand Marnier, and a dogpile of treats: toasted slivered almonds, chopped dried apricots, craisins, orange zest, candied kumquats, mini chocolate chips. If that don't beat all, I've got my eye on an Irish Cream sauce....

[Jenise]

This is def the right weekend for an Irish cream sauce!

How'd it come out?

Excellent. One of the better I've made. I did two things a little differently this time. Firstly, extra vanilla. Secondly, I let the bread cubes soak in the wet custard for 30 minutes before baking. That seems to have really gotten the moisture and a little custardy texture all the way through.

And, yes, a little warm Irish Cream liqueur goes very well, Miss O'Stone. ::shamrocks::

With a more critical eye, and another sample down, I think next time I will up the amount of almonds and make a little more custard. It could stand some moistening, which today is accomplished with Curacao (to push along the zest and kumquat flavors).

Well, then kick him out the door and have him go for a walk around the block to settle his legs!

Oh, pudding, not pumpkin. Can't help you there except to suggest mixing in additional gelatin or agar agar next time. Glad it worked itself out.