Calling all chocolate lovers! This rich Italian Budino al Cioccolato is the perfect chocolate pudding. Serve it on special occasions, holidays, or whenever you crave chocolate!
The pudding is rich and creamy, thickened with egg yolks. It can be enjoyed warm or chilled. If you like, you can add toppings like whipped cream, fresh berries, chopped nuts, or chocolate shavings.
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Since this Budino uses eggs as a thickening agent, it’s a completely gluten-free dessert!
- This Italian pudding tastes like rich chocolate cake batter. It has a smooth, silky texture because it uses egg yolks instead of other thickening agents.
- This rich and creamy pudding isn’t overly sweet, making it appeal to a variety of preferences.
This stovetop Budino al Cioccolato beats store-bought chocolate pudding without question and is so easy to prepare. You’ll only need 30 minutes to make it from start to finish!
🛒 Ingredients
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Note: The full list of this recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are listed in the recipe card below.
- heavy cream
- whole milk
- eggs
- granulated sugar
- dark chocolate
- unsalted butter
- kosher salt
- pure vanilla extract
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Add milk and cream to a large saucepan over medium heat and simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add sugar to a medium bowl and egg yolks to a smaller bowl.
- Add the egg yolks to the bowl of sugar.
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar well until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is pale.
- Temper the egg-sugar mixture by slowly stirring in ⅓ of the warmed cream and milk.
- Whisk in another ⅓ and finally the last ⅓ mixing well between the additions.
- Return the mixture back to the large saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. The mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Place the chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour the custard over the chopped chocolate and set it aside for 5 minutes so that the chocolate can melt.
- Whisk the mixture until the ingredients are well combined.
- Add in the butter, salt, and vanilla.
- Whisk until combined well.
- Pour into serving dishes and enjoy warm or chill first in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.
🔪 Equipment
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- mixing bowls
- large saucepan
- whisk
- dry measuring cups
- liquid measuring cup
- measuring spoon
- ramekins on glass bowls for budino
🤔 FAQs
These are the questions we are most frequently asked about making Classic Italian Chocolate Pudding.
“Pudding” is an American word for a dessert. It mixes sugar, milk, and a thickening agent. This thickener is often corn starch, but it can also be gelatin, rice, or tapioca.
“Budino” is an Italian dessert that uses eggs as a thickening agent.
The Italian word “Budino” literally means “custard” or “pudding”. This dessert is often referred to in full as Budino al Cioccolato.
Many people use the words “cioccolato” and “cioccolata” as if they mean the same thing. However, “cioccolato” means chocolate in solid form. On the other hand, “cioccolata” means chocolate in liquid form. This is why you often hear “cioccolata” when talking about drinks.
The pudding should be stored in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. Only add the whipped cream topping just before serving.
Chocolate panna cotta uses ingredients similar to budino. However, panna cotta adds powdered gelatin as a thickening agent and does not use eggs.
A chocolate panna cotta recipe typically has these ingredients:
Heavy cream
Half and half
Powdered gelatin
Sugar
Vanilla extract
Dark chocolate
Budino is pronounced “boo-DEE-noh”.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- Serve your budino in small jars, parfait glasses, or dessert glass bowls to show off that rich and creamy pudding!
- Use quality chocolate and vanilla extract for this pudding - it makes a huge impact on the flavor of the dessert.
- I don’t recommend freezing this dessert due to the cream-based ingredients used.
- You can enjoy this chocolate budino warm or chill it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. This way, you can have a cold dessert. When serving warm, make sure that you at least allow the hot pudding to cool slightly, especially if you plan to top it with whipped cream.
📚 Variations
- Make a butterscotch budino by omitting the chocolate and topping the pudding with store-bought or homemade salted caramel. I suggest using brown sugar instead of granulated sugar. The brown sugar mixed with butter will create a rich butterscotch flavor.
- Add a crushed cracker crust using Graham crackers and butter to line the bottom of each parfait glass, jar, or glass bowl. This will provide a delicious contrasting texture to the dessert.
- Add some coffee, Cognac, or amaretto to this budino al cioccolato for a fun twist.
- Create a layered pudding by dividing the pudding and adding dark chocolate to one half and white chocolate to the other half. Layer the dessert in glass jars or bowls. Let the first layer cool before adding the second layer. Repeat as many layers as you wish.
🥫 Storage
You can store Budino al cioccolato in single serving jars or bowls. Just cover them tightly with plastic wrap. Keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Leave off any toppings such as whipped cream until you are about to serve your individual puddings.
📗 Related Recipes
If you love desserts with a silky smooth, creamy consistency, then be sure to bookmark my Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce, Lemon Tart With Almond Biscotti Crust, or this No Churn Nutella Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!
Or if your jam is quick and easy and you have the munchies, you'll love our Homemade Chocolate Turtles. These Rolo pretzel pecans are the easiest holiday treat to make and are so much fun to decorate.
Are you looking to add a touch of sweetness and nostalgia to your family gatherings? Look no further than our Family Classic Decadent Cherry Chocolate Cake. It's made with a luscious chocolate cake mix and tart cherry pie filling. This delectable dessert brings delight to both young and old alike.
🍽 Serve with
You can keep your chocolate puddings plain. Or, you can top them with whipped cream.
Fine chocolate shavings also work well. Fresh berries, chopped nuts, or a sprinkle of sea salt are great options too.
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
This rich velvet-like chocolate pudding takes me straight back to my childhood. I can still clearly picture scraping any remaining chocolate pudding from the large bowl my mom used and licking the spoon completely clean.
This decadent chocolate dessert is so good that you won’t be leaving any behind!
Tutti a tavolo, è pronto!
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📝 Recipe Card
Budino al Cioccolato is a rich and creamy chocolate pudding made with pantry staple ingredients. It can be enjoyed warm or chilled. The custard-like dessert is thickened with egg yolks and flavored with melted dark chocolate and pure vanilla extract.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
📖 Recipe
Classic Italian Chocolate Pudding (Budino Al Cioccolato)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Heavy cream
- 1 cup Whole milk
- 6 Egg yolks large
- ⅓ cup Granulated sugar
- 5 ounces Dark chocolate 70-85% dark, coarsely chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Butter unsalted
- ¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring milk and cream to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until sugar has dissolved and mixture is pale.
- Temper the egg-sugar mixture by slowly stirring in ⅓ of the warmed cream and milk. Whisk in another ⅓ and finally the last ⅓ mixing well between additions.
- Add the mixture back to the large saucepan and place over medium heat.
- Cook, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Place the chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Pour the custard over the chocolate and set aside for 5 minutes so that the chocolate can melt.
- Work quickly, whisking until the everything is smooth and the ingredients are well combined.
- Whisk in the butter, salt, and vanilla until well combined.
- Pour into serving dishes.
- You can enjoy the pudding warm, or cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 60 minutes to serve cold.
- The pudding will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Serve your budino in small jars, parfait glasses, or dessert glass bowls to show off that rich and creamy pudding!
- Use quality chocolate and vanilla extract for this pudding - it makes a huge impact on the flavor of the dessert.
- I don’t recommend freezing this dessert due to the cream-based ingredients used.
- You can enjoy this budino al cioccolato warm or allow it to chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes for a cold dessert. When serving warm, make sure that you at least allow the hot pudding to cool slightly, especially if you plan to top it with whipped cream.
Nutrition
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