Last week, while preparing vegan red beans & rice on a vacation Wednesday morning, it occurred to me that I haven’t made a straight-up chocolate dessert in a while. Like, maybe since June? I don’t even know. I was in a summer produce fugue state.
Once I realized this, I knew I had to rectify it immediately—a chocolate craving cannot be remedied with anything else. Thinking through our island pantry, I realized I had everything for a quick vegan chocolate pudding. Ten minutes of measuring and whisking later, I was dividing warm pudding into ancient Corelle teacups and setting them in the refrigerator for that night—a perfect make-ahead dessert to go with our make-ahead dinner.
Flash forward a week and I have made Vegan Chocolate Pudding twice in my NYC kitchen since I’ve returned. Its ingredients are things I always have on hand—cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar, almond milk, dark chocolate, vanilla, salt, and (optional) vegan butter. It takes just minutes to put together and doesn’t require sieving as it doesn’t contain eggs. Score!
This Vegan Chocolate Pudding is SO good, y’all. Each spoonful is deeply chocolaty, ice cold, silky smooth, and delicious. I may or may not have eaten it for breakfast this week. Twice.
Vegan Chocolate Pudding
makes 4 servings
2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or other plant milk)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon vegan butter (optional, but recommended)
grated chocolate, for serving (optional)
In a medium pot, whisk together cornstarch, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Whisk in half the almond milk, followed by the remainder.
Place pot over medium heat. Whisking continuously throughout cooking, cook pudding until it has boiled for 1 minute. This process should take 6-8 minutes from start to finish.
Remove pot from heat and whisk in vanilla, followed by dark chocolate and vegan butter (if using).
Divide pudding into four small heatproof serving dishes (I used 4-ounce mason jars). Press plastic wrap to the surfaces. Refrigerate for a few hours, until cold.
When ready to serve pudding, peel off and discard plastic wrap. Lightly stir pudding, top with grated chocolate (if desired), and serve.
Leftover pudding will keep covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.
If you’ve been on my 
One of my nearest and dearest friends is getting married on Sunday, and asked yours truly to make a big, beautiful cake for her and her dream man. I said yes—it was a proposal this baker couldn’t refuse. Of course, July 15, 2018, seemed very far away when I agreed to this last summer. In fact, it didn’t start feeling imminent until May, when she and future hubs planned a trip home to NYC to make some final arrangements, including a cake tasting.
Cut to June 4th when I showed up to the bride’s mother’s apartment with three little layer cakes: all 
The original plan was that they would choose one filling and one frosting and that would be that. About five minutes into the tasting we were all in agreement—vanilla, mocha, and bright-white Swiss Meringue Buttercream. But that was before the mother of the bride randomly stacked a bite of the caramel-filled cake on top of a bite of the mocha-filled cake and then insisted the rest of us do the same. Just like my friend and her betrothed, each filling was fine on its own, but they were better together—the combination of chocolate, espresso, and dark caramel is divine. And so, it stands that this cake will be vanilla layers with Swiss Meringue Buttercream and alternating mocha and caramel fillings.
Since this cake has to be made, transported, and assembled in the middle of a hot, humid NYC July, I had to take melting into consideration when developing the recipe(s). Traditional American Buttercream (butter + confectioners sugar + vanilla + heavy cream, AKA most of the 
The frosting, which I’ll write more about on Friday, is made from egg whites, while the fillings are made with the yolks. The mocha filling is simply my 
Today is all about the caramel filling—this rich, silky, insanely delicious pudding that is practically like eating a little bowl of pure caramel! So freaking good.
Caramel Pudding is a streamlined spin on the Butterscotch Cream Pie filling I made last fall. It’s super quick and easy to make, coming together in just 15 minutes on the stovetop. You may absolutely enjoy it without any accoutrements, but I especially love it with 
And, of course, it also works well as a cake filling, if whispers of dark caramel between layers of buttery vanilla cake are a thing you’re into.
They are definitely a thing I’m into.
This cake deserves a better name.
I’m usually not the sort of blogger who labels her own recipes as “the best ever,” but y’all…this Chocolate Pudding might be the best ever. At the very least, it’s the best I’ve ever had.
Of course, until a few years ago, I’m pretty sure that the closest I’d ever come to eating pudding made from scratch was my mom making Jell-o Cook & Serve vanilla pudding on an occasional weekend night. I’m not complaining though—she served it in a set of rarely-used champagne coupes, so it felt very fancy for something we ate on the couch in front of the TV.
This pudding though? It doesn’t need any elegant glassware to feel luxurious. It’s made with both cocoa and chopped bittersweet chocolate, giving the finished pudding a bold, in-your-face flavor. I cut the added sugar way down too, so there’s no cloying sweetness to distract from the intensity of the chocolate. 
I can guarantee you that there is no boxed mix on the market that makes a chocolate pudding that’s anywhere near this chocolaty.
This Chocolate Pudding is super thick, too. I mean, your average store bought pudding cup can’t hold a spoon straight up like that, now can it?!
Another thing I love about this recipe is that it takes all of twenty minutes from the time I start measuring out ingredients to the time I put the pudding in the refrigerator to chill. This makes it perfect for a lazy night in or for a game night or cookout. I even think you could deck the individual servings out with whipped cream and shaved chocolate and serve them at a dinner party.
My Chocolate Pudding stays good for a few days in the fridge, so it’s a great make ahead option too. If you can resist the temptation to take a cold, creamy bite, that is.
When I first started out as a New York nanny, I worked for a family that lived in East Harlem. I took care of their baby girl, whom I affectionately called “Zu” (a nickname which bears no likeness to her actual name), from the time she was nine months old to when she was two and a half. And, oh, we had so much fun together. We read a million books, danced to Mary Poppins on vinyl, and I introduced her to the Peanuts (because Snoopy rules). We blew bubbles in the backyard, gave fist-bumps and high-fives, wore silly hats, and made cakes.
But if you have children or have ever spent an extended period with anyone else’s children, you know that no matter how much fun you are having together, there comes a point where cabin fever sets in and you’d rather do anything than be in the house for two more minutes. When this happened, I’d put her in a baby carrier and we’d go find something to do. When it was nice, we’d go to the playground. When it was gross out, we’d go to Target and buy things I didn’t need. And sometimes, on very special occasions, we’d hop over to 
We always ordered the same thing, one Banana Pudding Pudgie. It’s a soft, chewy, white chocolate-studded cookie that tastes just like its namesake dessert. We’d go home and I’d cut it in quarters so she could grab them easily with her little fingers, and we’d enjoy it together before finding a new record to dance to. Those are some of my favorite memories ever. Just a simple little treat with my sweet, tiny friend.
You guys, these cookies taste exactly like banana pudding. No, seriously. They literally taste exactly like the combination of vanilla pudding, bananas, 
Looking for more banana pudding? Check out my 
e2 bakes brooklyn 