Friday, September 11, 2009

Spiced Chocolate Pudding with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Today is a difficult day. I had trouble deciding what to write last year - and trouble deciding what to write this year. While I try to keep things light around here, its impossible for me to let this day pass without acknowledgment. Ultimately, I will echo my words of last year ... I'd like to offer this post as my public prayer for peace in our world and peace in the hearts of those personally affected by the events of September 11, 2001.

I'd also like to offer you all a dish of pudding. Ellie Krieger's Dark Chocolate Mousse, to be exact. Not to be flip and not because it will change anything - I'm serving you pudding because, quite simply, its comforting.

You can find her recipe here, and while she refers to it as mousse, I find its texture to be more similar to pudding. I followed the recipe as written, with the exception of the chocolate. I used a dark chocolate bar that had been spiked with red chiles and the results were magnificent. Chocolate and chiles pair beautifully together and we really enjoyed the subtle hint of heat the chiles lent to the mix. Feel free to experiment with this one, using whichever flavor or special variety of chocolate you like. There are some wonderful lavender flecked chocolate bars on the market now, and they would be outstanding in this capacity as well. Ditto for any combination of chocolate and orange.

In keeping with the sort of Mexican feel of the spiced pudding, I opted to top it with some cinnamon whipped cream ... a match made in heaven.

Cinnamon Whipped Cream:
  • 1/2 pint of heavy cream
  • two or three dashes of ground cinnamon, to taste
  • 1/2 tsp. agave nectar, or to taste
Whip the cream in bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with the wire whisk attachment, on high until it just begins to hold soft peaks. Add two or three dashes of ground cinnamon and beat for 30 seconds or so. Add in some agave nectar, to taste, until the cream has been sweetened to your liking. Continue to whip until it just holds stiff peaks. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more cinnamon or agave if desired and mixing gently. Go slowly and do not over-mix.

Serve the chilled pudding with a dollop of cinnamon whipped cream and enjoy.

Any excess whipped cream can be kept, covered tightly, the fridge for a day or two. It would be excellent when used as a garnish for any pie, crumble or crisp.

Oh, one more thing: that pudding ... its made with silken tofu. Don't let that scare you. The texture is divine and the flavor rich and satisfying. Use a dark chocolate of good quality and I promise you won't even know its tofu. Really.

Bon appetite!

14 comments:

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Delicious pudding, love the cinnamon whipped cream. I share in your prayers for peace.

Unknown said...

How deliciously decadent!

GarlicBOSS said...

I like the special whipped cream...thanks

The Duo Dishes said...

A day of remembrance indeed. Thanks for reminding us that we can find comfort in all things.

Deb Schiff said...

Gorgeous pudding and cream. I also pray for peace every day. We cannot give up hope. Thanks for the thoughts on this day.

stephchows said...

prayers from here too, and the pudding does sound comforting and delicious

words...words...words... said...

Mmmmmm! Chocolate, chiles and cinnamon are one of my absolute favorite combinations. This looks delicious.

The Diva on a Diet said...

Katherine - thanks, that cinnamon cream would be good on so many things. :)

HH - thank you, too!

GarlicBOSS - I'll amend the top comment above and suggest that the cinnamon cream would *not* pair well with garlic! ;) LOL

Duo - and your cupcakes look mighty comforting as well. Yum!

Deb - I know I don't need to tell you that the agave would work in this pudding as well ... you started me on my agave journey! Hope all is well with you. Thanks for adding your thoughts today as well.

steph - and its fairly healthy too. win/win!

words words words - me too! I had a feeling you'd like the chocolate/chile combo. :)

Christo Gonzales said...

decadent all the way - it was a quiet day for me today.

Donna-FFW said...

Sounds.. and looks.. like a most wonderful dessert. Love the idea of cinnamon whippped cream.

pixelgal said...

This recipe helps to get us through the date that will live in infamy. Comfort is definitely what is needed. Who knows, it may even get me to like tofu if there's chocolate in it! Thanks, Diva dear.

Anonymous said...

Love the idea of spicing the chocolate with chiles, very nice with the cinnamon whipped cream!

nora@ffr said...

vat a tempting pudding!! love the spicy idea :)

Deb said...

You know I am a sucker for anything chocolate and your variation on Ellie's recipe looks divine!

Friday was a wierd sort of somber day - we will never look at that date in the same way again in the the US will we?