Lemon Curd and Chocolate Pudding

Tonight as I checked my facebook, I came across this post for Lemon Curd. I was instantly drooling with lust and an intense craving for pudding. I read the post a couple of times before realizing that I would have a bunch of egg whites left over, and egg whites were perfect for chocolate pudding, like I blogged about here.

One of my favorite things to do - when I am craving pudding - is make two different puddings, and then put a dollop of each into my bowl so that I can eat them separately and yet together. :-) This seemed like a match made in heaven, almost as perfect as tapioca and chocolate pudding. Mmm.....

So, I started by separating 12 egg yolks into one bowl, and the whites into another. For the lemon curd, I followed the directions exactly, except... lol! I didn't have fresh lemons so I used organic lemon juice, and she says that she uses a LOT because she likes it sour, and that most people would probably want less. Taking that to heart, I used only 1 cup of the lemon juice, but retained the 1/2 cup of honey. I also used butter rather than ghee.

So, for a quick run down, I tossed 2 sticks of organic valley cultured butter into a pot on low to melt while I was separating the yolks from the whites. Then I added the lemon juice and the honey to it. I stirred until the honey was melted - I use raw honey from a local farm that's available in the health food section of most stores. After the mix was melded, I slowly poured it into the bowl with the egg yolks, and mixed that pretty thoroughly for about 30 seconds or so, using my mixers so I didn't wear my hand out, lol!

I returned the entire mix to the pot, and heated over medium. I honestly started with low, but I tend to get impatient, and kept increasing the temp until it just barely started to boil, and then I returned it to low. At that point, the Lemon Curd had thickened beautifully, so I turned the mix off and set it aside to cool.

Then, I made the chocolate pudding by adding 4 heaping spoonfuls of Rapunzel Organic 100% pure Cocoa powder to the egg whites, and about 1/4 cup of maple syrup. I beat the whites with my mixer until it turned into a soft meringue. Then, in a bigger bowl - because I inadvertently chose one too small for the whole mix - I beat 2 cups of cream (I measured this time, lol!) along with another 1/4 to maybe 1/2 cup of maple syrup. When that turned into whipped cream, I added the soft meringue to the bowl, and then mixed it together on high until it was completely melded, and the thickness was perfect for me. Puddingy :-) Though my hubby still thinks it's more of a mousse than pudding, but who cares! It's seriously tasty!

To serve, I put a scoop of Lemon Curd into a bowl, careful to keep it on just one side, and then scooped a dollop of chocolate pudding into the other side of the bowl. I am SOOOO glad I did this!!! The Lemon Curd was TART! Which was perfect for making a lemon torte or a Lemon Meringue pie, but if wanting to eat this as a pudding or custard - or curd, lol! - it was a bit too tart. The chocolate pudding was the perfect balance since it was a bit on the sweet side.

Now, I'm thinking that I may just need to make a few pie crusts, because it would be seriously easy to turn the leftovers of each into pies. The Lemon Curd will naturally set as it cools, so pouring it into the crust and setting it in the fridge would be all I need to do. As for the pudding, I could very easily add say crumbled organic Oreos and make a chocolate mousse pie.

Then again, I don't really need the carbs, lol! I think I'll stick with pudding :-)