Budino Di Cioccolato

From Nigella Lawson
This is chocolate pudding by another name, but somehow it sounds better in Italian. But frankly, language is irrelevant here: we're talking pure, all-encompassing bliss. When you eat it cooled, it is like chocolate satin cream and almost shocking in its pleasurable intensity, but I love it, too, hot and straight out of the pan when it is like the best hot chocolate you've ever had, in spoonable form.
Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 cup cocoa
2 tablespoons boiling water
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
Directions

Put the kettle on, and warm the milk and cream together either in a saucepan or microwave.


Put the sugar and cornstarch into another saucepan and sieve in the cocoa. Add the 2 tablespoons of boiling water and whisk to a paste.


Then whisk in the egg yolks, 1 at a time, followed by the warmed milk and cream, and then the vanilla extract.


Scrape down the sides of your pan and put it on the heat, cooking and whisking for about 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture thickens - if it helps, think of consistency like mayonnaise.


Take off the heat and whisk in the finely chopped chocolate, before pouring into 4 small cups or glasses each with a yield of about 2/3 of a cup.


Cover the tops of the cups with clingfilm/clingwrap (plastic wrap) to stop them from forming a skin, and then refrigerate once they are cooler. Make sure they are not still fridge-cold when you serve them. You can add a blob of cream on top if you like.