Chocolate Biscuit Pudding

My countdown begins as I have just about a week to go. My heart is aching as my maternity leave comes to a fag end and I shall soon resume work full time. Time has flown so quickly and my tiny tot is in her fourth month. Resuming work won't be any easy as I leave my little one behind and shall be away for 10 odd hours. My heart wrenches and eyes wet even as I think of being without her. I have been her throughout the night and day all these months, almost every minute. Staying away from her with be a challenging task for sure.

On another note, we have named her Ridhi and we love her name. It's unique and means wealth/ prosperity/ success/ good fortune in Sanskrit. Hunting a name for her was an ardent task in itself. Hundred odd names were looked up, many suggested by our near and dear ones, mostly to be rejected. Blame me. I am choosy. My better half was not any better. I had many conditions, so did he :) Name should be unique, be meaningful and hopefully should be associated with some God or Goddess... etc, etc, etc...

As kids we had couple of common names in our class that would lead to an awful confusion while names were called out. Fortunately enough I did not face such incidents in my high school or pre-college, but, I have been through it while in my graduation where I shared my name with another girl for four years. I am hopeful she won't have any hassles of facing half a dozen similar names in her class :D I would often blame my parents as I never liked my name till Ms. Sherawat made my name popular! I know it's thinking a little too ahead, but least, as she grows old she would not blame us as I did!

As my countdown to join work begins, I am going into a panic mode. The passionate cook in me hasn't been able to cook or bake much and with me resuming office soon, I fear if I will be able pursue my passions. I am hoping I should, for the love of cooking and blogging. For moment I'm feeling positive.

What I have for you today is this Chocolate Biscuit Pudding made using microwave method instead of the traditional stove-top one. I've made this sort of a pudding cake earlier in vanilla flavor and have received several positive reviews by my readers on it. In fact, it's one of the most popular posts on my blog and I am glad it's received well since it's been a never fail recipe for me personally.

I have been using microwave quite a lot off late as it simplifies my work a tad bit. I am loving to make eggless custards in microwave as there is no hassle of custard settling at the bottom. Just mix in everything and microwave for a few minutes, stirring them in intervals. I bet you will love this method too.

Chocolate Biscuit Pudding

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lt full fat milk (approx 2 1/2 cups)
2 tbsp cornstarch
200 gm sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder (+ more if you prefer darker)
100 gm Marie biscuits
A few tbsp of warm milk
Chocolate vermicelli to decorate

DIRECTIONS

Microwave method: Dissolve all the ingredients in a microwave safe pot and microwave on high for about 8-10 minutes or till thick. Stir the mixture in regular intervals of 2 minutes. Check the consistency and microwave further if it's not thick enough. Ensure it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove and allow it come to room temperature.

Stove-top Method: Dissolve the cornflour into 1/4 part of milk and set aside. Bring rest of the milk to a boil. Pour in the cornflour milk mixture in a gentle stream, stirring the milk continuously. It's best to do this in a non-stick pan.

Dip each biscuit in warm milk and lay them side by side on a pudding plate. Spread the prepared pudding onto the biscuit layer. If you want to make a cake, follow up with another layer of biscuits and pudding. Fill the pudding into piping bag with star nozzle. Sprinkle biscuit crumbles on the pudding layer and pipe decorations on the prepared cake. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Decorate with chocolate vermicelli on top before serving.

I made this pudding as a weekend activity while my hubby was baby sitting our daughter. It's super quick and easy using microwave method. The pudding sets well in the refrigerator and tastes great cold, so I suggest you do that. I admire art in any form. The creative side of me has hardly been able to explore much of cake decorations, except for the Black Forest Cake I made for dad last year. I'm inspired by blogs who can pool in so much time and patience to blossom their creativity in practice. I'm sold instantly. This pudding is a testimony to satisfy that urge in me to decorate cakes. It's magical.