This was mostly an experiment. I started following the directions for the Chocolate Pudding Cake at Cooks.com, but then I got down to the bottom where it says to leave it in the freezer overnight, then wait 45 for it to thaw and decided it wasn’t for me. Who wants to wait a day and a half for chocolate? Not me. So I made the rest up, here it is:

Chocolate Pudding
(makes 2 servings)

• 1/3 cup sweetened cocoa (I used Ghirardelli)
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/3 cup melted or softened butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of the sugar with a fork until its light and lemony colored. Slowly stir the remaining sugar and milk in a small saucepan and heat on low to medium heat until tiny bubbles appear along the edges of the pan. Pour small amount of the hot mixture into the egg, stir and pour the egg and milk mixture back into the pan.

Cook over low heat until the mixture begins to thicken. Slowly whisk in the cocoa, vanilla, and butter. When it’s well mixed and thickened a little more, pour into ramekins (oh yes I said ‘ramekin’) or cups and chill in the fridge until gelled. I left them uncovered because Im lazy, but they didn’t get that weird film on them.

As it was, by the time I licked all the leftovers out of the pan (you do it too, so shut up) I was plenty full of pudding. The next day I got to enjoy the finished product with some cocoa flavored whipped cream that I made to go with it. It was good, as you can probably tell from the picture.