All food is important and a sign of Allah’s many blessings upon us; but there is something deeply, historically precious about milk. It is a reminder of birth, growth and new life – but, just as all life is fleeting, milk has a brief shelf life too. So before throwing out that milk that is just days away from coming to the end of its time in your fridge, consider the importance of not being wasteful and transform it into this deliciously smooth chocolate pudding that can be made with store cupboard ingredients – and is bound to be a hit with children and adults alike!
Milk Chocolate Pudding
Serves 4
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
600 ml cow’s milk of choice
4 tsp corn flour
80 g caster sugar
3 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Method
Put all dry ingredients in a medium sized saucepan and pour in 100 ml of the milk, stirring until combined and smooth.
In a microwave, heat the remaining 500 ml milk until warm (but not boiling).
Put the saucepan on the stove over a low heat, slowly pouring in the rest of your milk and the vanilla extract, if using.
Stir continuously with a wooden spoon, gradually turning the heat up to medium.
Keep stirring – as the temperature rises, the pudding will begin to thicken on the bottom of the pan. If it becomes lumpy, turn down the heat and whisk gently until it is smooth again
Continue to stir or whisk on a medium heat until the mixture has thickened to a slightly runny custard consistency. If you would like it thicker, continue to stir it whilst it’s on the stove.
Pour into four ramekins, or if you’d prefer, put all of the pudding into one medium sized bowl.
Leave to cool at room temperature for an hour, and then place in the fridge until set and ready to serve.
Serve with whipped cream, berries, nuts or just as it is – enjoy!
Variations: You can also try omitting the cocoa powder and making this a plain vanilla pudding, or even try different flavourings such as cinnamon, almond or mint extracts. This pudding is also delicious warm, straight from the pan!
