A SIMPLE TREAT... chocolate pudding

     Sometimes simple is the best thing.  The morning of Valentine's Day I was tossing around different ideas for that special dessert that would follow a Salad Lyonnaise and a Petit Filet Mignon.  I'm thinking of course, chocolate cake... maybe a chocolate tart?  But then, a little short on time, I settled on the chocolate pudding recipe I almost always use (and, after-all, I did make the Chocolate Roulade just a couple of days earlier; I really didn't want another chocolate cake). My daughter grabbed her dish of still-slightly-warm chocolate topped with whipped, heavy cream the moment she walked in the door from a day at school.  There was no waiting for her!  I resisted until after dinner (altho' I did luck-out with  the remaining pudding from the pan and the whipped cream from the beaters).  I often use this chocolate pudding to fill little individual tart shells that are also topped with whipped, heavy cream.

                   …"Old-Fashioned" Chocolate Pudding …

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons (packed) cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2 cups of milk (1% if you want a low-fat version; whole milk if you want an even  richer pudding)
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
•  Mix first 5 ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Add 1 cup milk and whisk to dissolve cornstarch.  Whisk in remaining milk.  Whisk mixture over medium heat until thickened and beginning to simmer, about 5 minutes.  Simmer 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in butter and extracts... When cool, top with lots of whipped cream!

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