Chocolate Pudding

Method

1. whisk3 min
   dry goods first, then milk in a slow stream, OFF heat
   sugar + cocoa + cornstarch + salt whisked together dry — the dry blend is lump insurance: cornstarch and cocoa both clump on contact with liquid, and dispersing them in sugar first is the trick that saves the strainer later — then the milk streamed in with the whisk moving
2. simmer10 min
   medium, whisked CONSTANTLY, to a full visible boil, then 1 minute more
   the pot over medium heat with the whisk never resting, through thickening and all the way to real bubbles breaking the surface — and held there one full minute: cornstarch only finishes its work at a boil, and the pudding pulled at 'looks thick' un-sets itself in the refrigerator by midnight, the recipe's one classic heartbreak
3. fold3 min
   off heat: chocolate + butter + vanilla stirred to gloss
   the chopped chocolate and butter melted into the hot base — the double delivery: cocoa built the deep frame, and the real chocolate arrives now with the body and shine the box version has spent decades trying to fake
4. rest130 min
   portioned, surface covered (or not — the skin schism), chilled 2+ hours
   into cups, plastic pressed directly onto the surface for the silk faction or left bare for the skin faction — the entry refuses to referee a war this old — and chilled until properly cold; spooned with barely-sweet whipped cream, it is the box's memory corrected