Easy chocolate pudding (in a milk carton!)
The viral chocolate and milk dessert everyone’s talking about
On a scale of one to gimme! how big a sucker are you for viral desserts? I’m hopeless – I see one, I want to make it immediately. So it was with this supposedly easy chocolate pudding, made by chef Alexander on the Schnelle Rezepte channel. It showed a sexy, sleek chocolate rectangle topped with cocoa and coconut and it said “Do you have milk and chocolate! Delicious dessert with NO flour, NO gelatin, NO oven!” Of course, I was already in the kitchen with my whisk and bowls and hair in a bun.
What it didn’t say was that you’d need things that not everyone has on hand in the kitchen. For instance, agar agar to get it to set in that sleek, sexy box shape. You need cocoa powder, and desiccated coconut. Welllll maybe it isn’t a two-ingredient recipe after all. But because my wife is a baker and self-confessed hoarder of “things we might one day need” we had all of this in our pantry. And, after a bit of struggle, the dessert that it made was actually pretty tasty. It was reminiscent of the chocolate puddings in a box we loved as kids, and it’s actually something I might throw together when I want that chocolate hit.
I’m baking mistakes so you don’t have to
So one of the points I struggled with was the agar agar. I was trying to measure it out on my kitchen scale which just wasn’t sensitive enough for such a small amount, so I ended up with significantly more than I meant to use. The easiest thing is to just use a teaspoon measure instead of weighing it out. It also helps to chop the chocolate into smaller pieces to get it to melt quicker. Once you get it all melted and cooked, it’s easy peasy. Just try not to pour it into a glass and drink it – because you will be tempted to – before it sets.
So, verdict? I’d definitely make this again (and a Keto version as well) despite my wife’s protests about desserts needing to be “hard graft”. Sometimes you just want an easy chocolate pudding, and this one actually ticks all the boxes. After you acquire agar agar, that is.
Want more easy chocolate recipes? Try my keto mug cake, or the peanut butter and chocolate mug cake. Want more involved, “hard graft” recipes? Try my wife’s famous keto flourless chocolate cake or the almond flour chocolate cake (both are gluten free!)
Nutrition Info (Per serving)
- Calories: 310
- Carbs: 46g
- Fat: 11g
- Protein: 6g
- Fiber: 2g
This recipe makes 4 servings. Get this recipe on myfitnesspal.
Easy chocolate pudding (in a milk carton!)
Ingredients
- 500 ml Milk reserve 100 ml
- 100 gram Sugar
- 1 pinch Salt
- 30 grams cocoa powder 2 tablespoons
- 90 grams Dark Chocolate
- 10 grams agar agar 2 teaspoons
- 20 ml of water
Instructions
- Empty a milk carton, cut off the ears on the side and the top till you have essentially an open-top box. You can either use one big one, or two smaller ones like I did. Set aside for later – this will be our mould for the pudding.
- Take 100 ml of milk in a bowl and mix the cocoa powder into it thoroughly till you have a smooth chocolate paste with no lumps
- Mix the agar agar with the 20 ml of water till you get a lump-free paste
- Put the remaining milk in a saucepan, add the sugar and salt to it. Get it on the stove on a low flame and stir the mix until everything is dissolved.
- Once that’s done, add in the milk and cocoa powder paste, and whisk until any and all lumps are dissolved.
- Add in your chopped chocolate and melt that into the milk mixture.
- Once the chocolate has dissolved completely, add in the agar agar mixture. If you get lumps that refuse to dissolve like mine did, you can strain the mixture when you’re pouring it into the mould.
- Cook the mixture until everything is dissolved and you get a smooth hot-chocolate-like consistency.
- Pour the pudding mix into the empty milk carton and put it in the fridge upright to let it set for at least two to three hours.
- Once the pudding is set (it should spring back a little when poked) cut open the carton with a pair of scissors and let the pudding slide out in all its glory onto a plate.
- Top with a dusting of cocoa and some desiccated coconut. Slice and serve.
Instead of using Agar Agar can I use Guar gum?
Not sure because I’ve never used it but a quick google search reveals “It’s usually used as a gluten-free alternative to wheat flour in many recipes, but can also be used as a fairly good substitute for agar agar.”
I guess it can be used but I wouldn’t know the quantity required.
If we wanted to use gelatin instead of agar agar, could we? If so, how much? And would any of the steps change? Thank you, sir.