Chocolate Pudding Recipes

Chef Gavin Kaysen of Minneapolis's Spoon & Stable created this dessert in honor of his grandmother Dorothy. "She used to make a big bowl of chocolate pudding and then set it in the middle of the table with a handful of spoons," he recalls.

Although this deep, dark chocolate pudding is easily made in ramekins, it's fun to bake and serve in small glass jars. Pim Techamuanvivit likes using old, mismatched jam jars.

"For me, ginger should be everywhere," says Jean-Georges Vongerichten. "It's as good in marinades and vinaigrettes as it is in dessert." Here, candied ginger garnishes dark-chocolate pudding.

This pudding is one component of a seven-part dessert at Cafe Gray in New York City, where executive pastry chef Chris Broberg serves it in a chocolate-coffee tuile alongside figs in port and candied orange peel, among other sweets.

This simple chocolate pot de creme is spiced with cinnamon and allspice. A touch of ground habanero chiles that were dried over an open fire gives it a slightly smoky flavor. If dried habanero is not available, cayenne is a good alternative.

This is not the usual velvety whole-egg stovetop pudding. While the ingredients are virtually the same, folding the beaten whites into the mixture and baking the puddings in a water bath makes this dessert mousse-like with a crusty top.

Since the pudding has so few ingredients, Spike Gjerde insists that they be of high quality: For the chocolate, Gjerde likes Mast Brothers Brooklyn Blend but says to use your favorite dark chocolate (about 70 percent or higher). For the cocoa powder, he prefers Valrhona.

This recipe from the late, great cookbook author Richard Sax has everything one could ask for in a chocolate pudding--an intense flavor and a silky texture that's still firm enough to stand a spoon in. For the best possible pudding, use top-quality cocoa powder and chocolate.