Flipping through Look and Cook (A Cookbook for Children) by Tina Davis (http://www.amazon.com/Look-Cook-A-Cookbook-Children/dp/1584793589), I came across a seemingly simple recipe for chocolate pudding.  My husband, the frequent taste tester, smugly said instant Jello Pudding would have been a lot simpler.  After looking up how to make instant Jello Pudding, I would have to conclude instant pudding is simpler (you don’t have to cook it for fifteen minutes or clean a pot) but the taste of the real deal was excellent and let’s be serious, the extra work for the real deal is 15 minutes, and it costs way less per serving and no foreign sounding ingredients.  I did not have to shop for a single ingredient.  Furthermore, my kid helper did just about everything but crack the eggs and measure the milk.  I even managed to squeeze in a fraction lesson as we experimented with the recipe.

Real Deal Pudding Ingredients:

5 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon of salt

2 1/2 cups of milk (I used 2% with no problems)

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup (8 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

whipped cream optional

Real Deal Chocolate Pudding Directions:

1. In a heavy saucepan (small to medium size will do) whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt.
2. Add the milk and eggs and whisk until no lumps.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Pour over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a full boil for a minute or two.  I did not set the timer, but I stirred on and off (but mostly on until it boiled quite a bit and the mixture moved from a loose liquid to the texture you normally associate pudding with.)  I would guess it was on the stove for about 12-15 minutes.  Your common sense will take over when appropriately done.  Once it starts to boil watch carefully as you would not want to scorch your pot.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
6. Pour the pudding into a large serving bowl or individual dishes.
7. Top with whipped cream if desired.
8. You can serve warm, room temperature or chilled.
9. If you are not going to serve the pudding right away, cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
10. Cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge and serve cold with whipped cream if desired.
11. Serves 6 to 8 portions (book says 6 but those would be big portions)

My husband and I thought the taste was great.  Our daughter will do her taste testing at dinner tomorrow night.  The pudding was appropriately sweet and a good consistency.

I thought clean up was simple – one pot which needed a good wipe down, a bowl to crack the eggs, a large whisk, and a few measuring spoons.

For those that need instant gratification or are curious what ingredients are in a box of jello instant pudding

Jell-O Instant Pudding Ingredients:

1 Box = 3.9 oz (110 g); Instant Pudding and Pie Filling – Chocolate. Four 1/2-cup servings. 5 Minutes to homemade.

Ingredients:

Sugar, Modified Food Starch, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Disodium Phosphate (for Thickening), Contains Less Than 2% of Natural and Artificial Flavor, Salt, Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate (for Thickening), Mono- and Diglycerides (Prevent Foaming), Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, Artificial Color, BHA (Preservative)

Jell-O Instant 5-Minute Pudding Directions:

1. Beat pudding mix into 2 cups cold milk in bowl with wire whisk 2 minutes.
2. Pour at once into individual serving dishes. Pudding will be soft-set and ready to eat within 5 minutes. Makes 4 (1/2 cup) servings.

No picture included because we did not make the box mix and likely never will.