Tuesdays with Dorie - Split-Level Pudding - Take Two

I am a stubborn person. Could be the German in me or perhaps the Irish. I hate to give up on something. I am also very competitive. Hate to lose at anything. So, when my attempt at this weeks recipe, Split-Level Pudding ended up in the freezer because it didn't thicken, I was very upset.

I wasn't going to try to make the pudding until after my trip. I have a ton of things to do before I leave Friday morning. Packing is one of them. But, all day long I thought about the pudding. I read several posts yesterday that said they didn't use the food processor, just used a whisk. So, when I got home today I decided to give it another try.

I am very pleased to report that it turned out beautifully! I added one teaspoon of almond extract instead of vanilla, and used a whisk instead of the food processor, but that was the only change. I put it in a clear pudding dish and put it in the fridge and several hours later pulled one out and it was perfect! Yeah!!! I knew I could do it!!

While my pudding was cooling in the fridge, I worked on a cake for an 89 year old's birthday. I bake and decorate cakes. This one was ordered by my daughter's boss. He has ordered several cakes from me in the past. He thinks he's getting a simple sheet cake, but since he is a repeat customer and it's for someone who's going to be 89, I thought it should be a bit more special. Since it's October, and someone 89 is in the "autumn of their life", I went with a fall theme for decoration. I think he will like it.

Tuesdays with Dorie - Split-Level Pudding

This weeks recipe was Split-Level Pudding and it was chosen by Garrett of The Flavor of Vanilla. This looked like such a yummy recipe and I was really excited to try it.

I guess it had to happen sooner or later. I had to have a "fail" on one of these recipes. This was it. A great big Fail! I will say in my defense that I am a baker, not a pudding maker. :)

I had such high hopes for this recipe. I decided to add espresso powder to the cornstarch and salt and make my split-level chocolate and coffee. It was going to be sooo good.

The ganache gave me no trouble. I brought the cream to a boil, poured it over the chopped chocolate, waited 30 seconds, slowly stirred and Wah Lah! Perfect! Poured that into the four ramekins I had set out.

I didn't start worrying about the second half until I added the hot milk to the processor and processed it. I had a very large amount of foam. Foam? But, I gallantly went on. I cooked the foam over medium heat, waiting for it to thicken. Had to keep lowering the heat as it was getting too hot too quick but not thickening. Finally it began to get thick, but was a strange texture, thick but full of holes. Again I continued on. Put it in my food processor, added the butter and vanilla and hit the pulse a few times...and ended up with a very thin liquid in my processor. Not at all pudding like. But, I put it into the ramekins and covered it with plastic and put them in the fridge. Checked them this morning and they were just as thin and watery as they were when I put them in the fridge. So, I did the only thing I could do. I stuck them in the freezer.

So, no pudding for my house. We had frozen icy milky stuff. It tastes great! However it is nothing like what it is supposed to be. I don't know where I went wrong. Not sure what step doomed the pudding, but I did something wrong. :( Someday I will try again, but not this week. I am heading to Germany on Friday and will be missing the next two Tuesdays. In the meantime, head over to TWD and see what everyone else thought.