Chocolate pudding gets enhanced with a layer of salted caramel. This is a dessert that tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen but is relatively easy to make!
It’s been a hot minute since I last made pudding. I used to love eating the pre-packaged ones from the grocery store for lunch (you know the brand!). However, since learning how to make many desserts from scratch, I haven’t bought any of those in about 20 years. It’s much more fun, satisfying, and healthy to make pudding yourself.
I was already in the midst of making this pudding when Addie shared that her friend and the friend’s sister were coming over to watch a movie that afternoon. It was perfect timing, since we typically have way too much pudding for just the 3 of us.
After the girls arrived (with some pizza, nonetheless!), I offered them some of this pudding. Addie’s friends were both impressed that I had made this from scratch, and it seemed to be a big hit before they began their movie. I, on the other hand, was not as much of a fan of the caramel. It had a weird texture, and it was very difficult to make. My caramel seized up and I eventually had to throw two big chunks of it away since it wouldn’t liquify. I added a note below to the salted caramel recipe that I would recommend as an alternative.
So while this was a relatively easy dessert to make, I would make it again with this recipe. The chocolate pudding itself was pretty solid, so if you want a good pudding, please make this without any hesitation.
Husband’s rating: 4.5 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4 out of 5
My rating: 3.5 out of 5
Chocolate pudding with salted caramel
Ingredients
Chocolate pudding
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup corn starch
- pinch salt
- 3 cups milk of choice I used 1%
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Salted caramel (see note below)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon sea salt I used Maldon flaky sea salt
Instructions
Make the chocolate pudding
- In a medium sized saucepan, add the sugar, corn starch, and the salt.
- Whisk in the milk and turn the heat on to medium. Continuously stir so the mixture is smooth and lump-free.
- Keep cooking the mixture until it thickens (it should take about 10 minutes). Take the pan off the stove and whisk in the vanilla.
- Evenly distribute the pudding into 6 ramekins or serving vessels. Place these into the refrigerator to cool down while you make the caramel.
Make the caramel (see note below)
- In a clean, medium-sized saucepan (if you are using the same saucepan from the pudding, make sure it is fully clean and dry), melt the sugar over medium heat. Use a silicone spatula to constantly stir until it achieves an amber color and the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Add in the butter and stir until it is fully melted.
- Slowly drizzle in the heavy cream. During this step my caramel completely seized up. I tried to re-melt it over the heat, but there were huge chunks of caramel that would not liquify. My recommendation is to use another recipe, which I link to below).
- Once the caramel has liquified and is pourable, take it off the stove and mix in the vanilla and the sea salt.
- Pour some caramel over the top of each of the chocolate puddings. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. You will have leftover caramel, which you should store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
- Once the puddings are completely cool, serve and enjoy.