Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Budino

This week’s recipe is for Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Budino. If you’re like me, you might be unfamiliar with the term ‘budino’. A quick google search reveals that a “Budino is a sweet Italian dish, usually rich and creamy like a custard or pudding.” Well that sounds delicious. It is also very easy. Corn starch and eggs are used to thicken milk and cream, and then cooked at boiling temperatures for a few minutes. Then the hot mixture can be added to whatever flavorings strike your fancy, in this case, half a chocolate bar, vanilla and whiskey. It doesn’t take long at all to make, but it does it require a 2 hour chill. It would be a great make ahead dessert for a get together. The vanilla and chocolate are layered prettily on top of each other. I remembered how little I liked the “milk chocolate pots de creme” from a couple of months ago, so I decided to try dark chocolate instead of the milk called for in this recipe. I really liked the change. The chocolate layer tasted very rich, like mousse. If I were to make this again, I think that I would go all chocolate. One layer with dark chocolate, one with milk chocolate. Chocolate shavings or some crushed up cookies would also be really tasty on top. My husband and I have both been under the weather all week, so this was just the recipe to revive our appetites.