So I have a english club that I´m doing with the Fulbright voluntter here at the University. We have decided to start bringing different types of traditional dishes to class. I started out with a dessert, as in, I offered to bring a dessert traditional to the United States. I thought for awhile as walking up and down the isles of the Mega Maxi of something simple but sweet. And then it hit me, DIRT DESSERT! All I would need is oreos, pudding, and worms. Oreos were easy to find, in the isle with the crackers and cookies. The gummie worms were a little bit trickier, hidden by some of the candies. The last ingrediant I needed was a simple package of pudding mix. I asked, no one knew what I was talking about....I looked, nowhere to be found...I went up and down isles. I looked in the gelatine isle and let me just say Ecuadorians must love their jello because there were tons and tons of different types of jello, even flan mixes...but NO PUDDING!!
I realized that this might be a bit trickier than I thought. So I decided to call my father, who is quite knowledgeable on baking. He was busy...So I called my friend Paige who had the internet to look up quick an easy recipe to make pudding by scratch....turns out there was a pretty simple recipe using cocoa, butter, flour and sugar..easy enough. Well as I was picking up these ingrediants I ran into yet ANOTHER problem. Baking cocoa must not be used here as much as in the states, because I got to the isle and the majority of the cocoa was for mixing with milk and water for a drink, thus had sugar in it. And I needed cocoa WITHOUT sugar...You´d think with a country that produces the cacao beans there wouldn´t be any problem with making and selling the powder...I looked at various packages and found the one that appeared to have the least amount of sugar.
That evening we had a dinner for Hannah´s birthday (argentinian friend) and then after I set out to make my concoction of pudding. My dad had called me that night to see how I was going to make it and of course had his own ideas. So at around 11 pm I started my pudding. I ended up mixing egg yolks with sugar to help with the consistancy. Boiled milk with the cocao that turned out to not have a lot of sugar, thank god! The milk took awhile to boil but once it did I added it to the egg and sugar mixture. At this point I was supposed to bring all of this back to a boil. The consistancy was still pretty watery and so (as my father recommended) I added some flour mixted with butter to the chocolaty mixture...from there it was just a waiting game. Finally the mixture came to somewhat of a boil. From there I transfered it to another cooler pot. Then realized that I forgot to ask what to do after I was all done cooking it! Should I let it sit for awhile and cool? Should I put it directly into the fridge? It was still pretty watery..what if it wasn´t going to thinken and I had chocolate soup instead of pudding?!?!
I stepped away from the kitchen for a bit and brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. The time was about 12:45. About 10 minutes later I stuck the pot in the fridge hoping that while it cooled the mixture would thicken. That night I don´t think I´ve ever had so many dreams about desserts and pudding..
In the morning I opened the fridge to find somewhat of a pudding mixture in the pot...THANK GOD! I figured I would wait until a couple minutes before the club to make the dirt dessert just in case as it warme up it melted, lol
So about 15 minutes before the club I put it all together and grabbed a taxi to the University for the club. Alas, it was a hit! The pudding was very chocolaty and had a pretty good texture. I think everyone liked it! So, below I will attach the recipe. I did a lot by guessing and tasting but this is (mas o menos) more or less how to make homemade pudding!
PUDDING!
2 tbs butter
1.5 c. sugar
3 egg yolks (I only had 3, four might be better for the consistancy)
1.5 c. cocoa
2.5 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. flour mixed with 1/2 c milk (if you need to thicken it)
Mix egg yolks and sugar together. Add milk, cocoa, butter, and vanilla. Bring to slight boil stirring consistantly. Once bubbly add to yolks and sugar together and bring to fire once again until it starts to bubble. Depending on the texture you can add the flour mixture with it. You also might want a pinch of salt.
Set aside to cool a bit before putting in fridge. You will want to cover it when putting it in the fridge otherwise it will form a type of skin on top. Let set for a few hours and serve!
I also added a chocolate bar to the milk and cocoa mixture because I wasn´t sure if it would be chocolatly enough, lol
Speaking of chocolate bars, I would also like to add a shout out to my lovely family and friends who have been so gracious, sending me cards and care packages! Keep up the good work!!! love you all
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