You’ll love this homemade chocolate brownie cake! It has a delicious chocolate pudding recipe, but you can use instant pudding for added convenience. Top it all off with whipped cream and chocolate curls for a fabulous dessert!
Ingredients
Chocolate Pudding from nothing
4 ounces of sweet and sour chocolate
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder (no sugar)
3 tablespoons of corn starch
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of heavy cream
3 egg yolks (extra large use.)
2 1/2 cups 2% milk (or whole milk)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Brownie Bark
4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate
4 tablespoons of salted butter
3/4 cup of sugar
1/8 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs (I use the extra large ones.)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Whipped cream
1 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of confectionery sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garrison
1 square of semi-sweet chocolate for making curls
United States Custom – Metric
Instructions
Make the pudding first, as it will need to cool down for up to three hours. Cut the sweet and sour chocolate into fine flakes with a serrated knife.
In a large heatproof bowl, whisk the cocoa, corn starch and salt. Gradually add the cream, beating as you do so until smooth. Beat the egg yolks.
In a 3-quart or larger saucepan, add the milk. Add the brown sugar and heat over medium heat. Bring pot to a boil over low heat. You will see small bubbles covering the surface of the liquid.
When it has reached a boiling point, pour most of the hot liquid into your bowl with the cocoa and cornstarch mixture. Beat it until it mixes well. This will warm the eggs, so they do not stir.
Pour everything in your bowl back into the pot and increase the heat to medium-high. Beat constantly while bringing the pot to a boil. The pudding will be thicker.
Cook pudding for two minutes, stirring constantly and vigorously, making sure to reach the corners of the pot.
Remove the pudding from the heat and add the vanilla. Add the chopped chocolate and beat the pudding well until the chocolate is mixed.
To cool the hot pudding more quickly, spread it out evenly on a tray with sides. Cover the entire surface of the pudding with waxed paper, pressing it down to prevent skin from forming. Allow the pudding to cool slightly in the pan before refrigerating it for three hours. (You can check it after an hour and a half to see if it is ready).
While the pudding is cooling, make the crust of the brownie. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch pie plate with cooking spray or butter. (The 9-inch pie plate will give you a taller pie, which looks better).
In a glass bowl or other microwaveable bowl, add the 4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate and butter. Heat, covered, in the microwave for 1 minute and 50 seconds, or until the butter melts. Stir to combine.
Beat in sugar and salt. Then add the eggs and vanilla. Finally, beat the flour.
Transfer brownie dough to your pie plate and bake for 20 minutes, or until a pie tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the brownie comes out with chocolate crumbs. Do not overbake. Let the brownie crust cool on a wire rack.
To make the whipped cream, whip the whipped cream and sugar with a mixer in a clean, medium sized stainless steel or glass bowl until the cream is half stiff. Add the vanilla extract and continue beating until hard peaks form. Refrigerate the whipped cream until the pudding is cool enough to assemble the cake.
To assemble the cake, make sure the brownie crust is at room temperature. Add the cold pudding to the brownie crust. Cover pudding with whipped cream.
To make chocolate curls or flakes for the garnish, use a vegetable peeler to peel along a straight edge of your chocolate square. Make as many curls or flakes as you wish and spread them over the cake.
Refrigerate the cake at least one hour before serving to allow it to settle. Then store the cake in the refrigerator for up to three days, covered with a domed bowl or domed aluminum foil so it doesn’t touch the whipped cream topping. I do not recommend freezing this cake.
Notes
The preparation time indicated does not include the cooling time. I cool the pudding for three hours, but you can check after about 90 minutes. It helps to spread the pudding on a tray so that it cools down faster. Press the wax paper over the pudding to prevent skin formation.
I also recommend cooling the cake for at least one hour after making it