Simple Joys, Simple Desserts--easy microwave custard

I don’t know what it is that makes complicated desserts so enticing. I can watch episode after episode of the Great British Baking Show (and the Great American Baking Show) and come away with an intense desire to create a Showstopper using multiple exotic flavors and fancy chocolate-work.

Or, if not a Showstopper, then at least something different and attractive and challenging, like the macarons that my daughter came home enthusiastic about. One of her classmates routinely makes macarons, apparently, and since macarons are made with egg whites, sugar, and almond, there was no problem about finding a gluten-free version.

 I’ve never been very excited about macarons, but they are pretty and it seemed like an interesting sort of project to make with her. We took the easy route on the filling, however, and stuck them together with Nutella.

The macarons were nice, if a bit sweet, but all those egg whites left me with egg yolks in the fridge, and that made me think of custard.

 This brings me to the puzzle behind this article:

Why spend all this effort on a dessert that isn’t really any tastier than a good chocolate pudding?

If I had to choose only five desserts that I could have for the rest of my life, chances are that one of those would be chocolate pudding (preferably topped with whipped cream.) I’m not sure what the other four would be, but the point is that there are a lot of desserts that are enormously more effort than pudding without being any more rewarding. 

Pudding got even easier when I found a recipe for making cornstarch-based chocolate pudding in the microwave, and then easier again when I discovered that Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Cocoa mix (ground chocolate, sugar, and cocoa) could be used instead of measuring out cocoa powder and sugar.

But here I was, with four leftover egg yolks—just the ingredients needed for custard. I knew from a recipe in Small Batch Baking that small amounts of custard could be made in the microwave. Why not a larger batch?

I found a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated for a rich chocolate pudding that used egg yolks, and made some modifications. (Did it really need all that butter in addition to the cream? What about semi-sweet morsels, since I didn't have bittersweet?) I tried cooking it in the microwave more or less the way I do for regular pudding, but stirring more frequently. And since I had four egg yolks and only needed two, I made one batch of chocolate and one batch of vanilla.

Very good! I was afraid there might be lumps since I didn’t strain it, but it came out remarkably smooth. (I made this during a water emergency and I didn’t want to have to leave the strainer dirty for who-knew-how-long, or have to wash it in bottled water.)

So here it is—Dangerously Easy Microwave Chocolate Custard, and Dangerously Easy Microwave Vanilla Custard. (I know the original recipe said “pudding”, but when it’s that rich and eggy, I think “custard”.)

Dangerously Easy Microwave Chocolate Custard

3 ½ tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon dutch-process cocoa powder

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

¼ cup whipping cream

2 egg yolks

1 ¼ cups 2% milk (or use what you have)

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1/3 cup)

1 tsp vanilla

I like to use a 4-cup glass measuring cup to mix in, as it microwaves well and I can see whether the stuff at the bottom is really mixed in.

Mix dry ingredients in the measuring cup. Whisk in the cream. Whisk in the egg yolks, then the milk. (It’s easier to mix if you don’t add all the liquids at once.)

Microwave 1 minute. Stir well with whisk. Microwave in 20 second increments, stirring between each, till custard thickens. Give it 10 more seconds to be sure.

Add the chocolate chips and stir them till they melt in. Add the vanilla. Pour through a strainer if you think it needs it.

Pour into bowl or bowls, and chill. It may need up to 4 hours to chill in a large bowl, but it’s really up to you when you want to eat it. Cover it if you need to protect it from odors in the fridge, but if you cover it while it’s still hot, you may get condensation.

Whip the some of the remaining cream (if you have any) with a bit of sugar and vanilla. Dollop generously on top.

Dangerously Easy Microwave Vanilla Custard

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

¼ cup whipping cream

2 egg yolks

1 ¼ cups 2% milk (or use what you have)

1 ½ tsp vanilla

Same procedure, but without having to melt chocolate chips into it.

 

Not-So-Dangerous Microwave Chocolate Pudding

5 tablespoons Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Cocoa

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 cups milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

In the 4-cup glass measuring cup, mix chocolate powder and cornstarch. Add milk. (It’s easier to mix if you start by adding just a bit, mixing, then adding more.)

Microwave for 2.5 minutes, then stir with a whisk. Microwave for a minute or half-minute at a time till it gets thick and shiny. (There may be a bit of foam on top from whisking in the chocolate powder earlier.) Stir in the vanilla. Pour into bowl or bowls and cool.

If you don’t like a “skin” on your pudding, you can cover the surface with plastic wrap. If you don't have Ghiradelli's, use the amount of cocoa and sugar that you would to make two cups of hot cocoa, or melt in some chocolate chips.