Chocolate Tapioca Pudding

I concocted a chocolate tapioca pudding this evening. I used a basic recipe for Tapioca Pudding from Simply Recipes and added 3 ozs of Scharffen Berger dark chocolate (60% cacoa). (I added the chocolate at the beginning.) Now the trick to this recipe, for me at least, is to add a small amount of the hot mixture to the beaten eggs to 'temper' them, then add this back to the pot. Well, I don't seem to be getting this right. I am not sure how much of the hot mixture to add or how slow to add this back to the pot. And you can really tell when this is wrong with a chocolate pudding. If anyone can provide some pointers, (yve, hint, hint) I would appreciate it. Anyway, the pudding tastes great warm. But I prefer pudding chilled, so I'll wait until tomorrow to really dig in. (For a close-up photo, just click on the picture, or visit the nascent Cook's Tour photo album.)

Comments

[yve]

The key to any such creation is to think "slow and warm" -- as opposed to fast and hot, which is the preferred approach to most other things. When you add the hot mixture, you should probably be in the area of 1/4 cup or so. But, you must add it slowly -- dribbles, in fact. Dribble a little in, stir it up and so on. What you want to do is warm the eggs, without cooking them, and prime them to be added to the milk mixture. What you're trying to avoid is a big mess of chocolate scrambled eggs. Feel it, too, (with your "impeccably clean finger"). It should be warm to the touch. Once you've added a sufficient amount of moderating chocolate mixture, return it all to the cooking pan, but again, do it slowly, over low heat, stirring all the while. It's tedious and time consuming, but well worth the effort. Although a few eggy curds in tapioca may go undetected, they would most certainly be noticed in a custard or pudding. When I make custard sauce I expect to be stirring at the stove for about 30 minutes. And I agree with you -- custards must be served cold!

Bon chance,
Yve

[David]

Oh, I dribbled. Perhaps it is a matter of technique or tools. What do you use to stir the hot mixture into the eggs? I was using a fork. What about the eggs back into the pan? Would a wisk be better? I used a fork there, too. But for all of the other stirring I was using a spatula (to keep stuff from sticking on the bottom of the pan). I'll have to try it again.

[yve]

A fork?