Finnish Chocolate Pudding

From: twissis

On May 22, 2008

I knew making this recipe would be an experiment when I tagged it. The main prob I face w/recipes is an ingredient issue as many US ingredients are unavailable here or found only at pricey import stores. Farina was the culprit here, but the dictionary mentioned grits as a poss sub for it & I wanted to see if they would work. Using 3 tbsp of instant grits, I cooked the mixture till near gravy thickness. My yield was 2 half-cup ramekin servings as expected from a half recipe, but I can testify grits work nicely in this recipe. I followed the hint in prior reviews to add the cocoa powder as a final step, but had to use my magic bullet to incorporate the lumps that resulted. Chill time was key to get a pudding texture & the texture was a tiny bit grainy, but not at all unwelcome as I feared it might be. This was easy, fun to fix & had a lovely choc flavor w/o being overly sweet. Thx for sharing this unique recipe w/us.

From: Roxygirl in Colorado

On Sep 26, 2007

I used to eat "Cocoa Wheats" as a child so I knew this would be a similar taste. I whisked my cocoa in at the end (just in case it stuck) and didn't have any issues. I thought the milk muted the chocolate flavor some and I think next time I will use water. This was made for a nice "guilt free" dessert. Thanks, Toni, for posting. Roxygirl

From: Annacia

On Nov 20, 2006

If you imagine chocolate tapioca you petty much have the description of this pudding. I used skim milk, Splenda and Cream Of Wheat here and it worked very well. The only problem I had was that a lot of my cocoa stuck to the pan bottom even though I was whisking non-stop. What I'll do next time is to make the porridge with milk, cereal and salt then mix in the cocoa and Splenda. (sugar) when I take the pan off the heat. Thx toni, I would never have thought of making a pudding this way.