The un-luck of the Irish

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

This week, I set my mind to making something classically Irish. I have shared a couple of my family’s Irish recipes with you in the past: my mom’s bread pudding and my take on Guinness whiskey cupcakes. I wanted to try my hand at soda bread, but after my last bread baking experience, I decided to stay away from that. Then I thought about taking on an Irish lamb stew, but lamb — while one of my favorites — is expensive, and I am on a budget.

So instead, I scoured the Internet for something new. Something I haven’t made hundreds of times, and something that was within budget but would still challenge my culinary skills. To my Pinterest board I went. One of my very first pins to my “Yum Yum” board was a Guinness chocolate pudding. I purchased the ingredients for this a while back but never got to make the dish. This was the week.

But like all the best plans, things often go awry.

Having never made pudding from scratch before, I thought things were going well at first. Until it was time to pour the cooked pudding into the dishes for cooling and setting. I set up my four 1-cup bowls and proceeded to hold my full saucepan in one hand, pouring the pudding mix with my other hand, making sure the mix didn’t spill. Little did I know, a little pudding on the outside of the dish would have been very clean compared to what was about to happen.

All at once, my left arm gave out, as if the pan weighed 100 pounds. The bowls knocked over and the hot pudding mix spilled all over the counter, trickling onto the floor. My kitchen was a total mess.

Thankfully, I had successfully filled one dish already. This St. Patrick’s Day, I will make sure to eat two plates of corned beef and cabbage to ensure better luck for the rest of the year.

Guiness chocolate pudding

What you need:
4 large eggs yolks
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ cups Guinness Stout
1 ¾ cups heavy cream
4 ounces high-quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

What to do:
In a large nonreactive mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and ½ cup sugar.

Slowly pour Guinness into a 2-cup measuring cup, pouring down the side of cup to reduce foaming.
Pour ½ cup of Guinness into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Set over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until bubbles just begin to form at edges. Remove from heat, add chocolate and whisk until smooth.

Slowly pour hot chocolate mixture into eggs, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Return mixture to saucepan and set over moderately low heat.

Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens. Divide pudding among glasses, leaving at least 1-ince of space at top of each. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled and set.

Meanwhile, pour 1 cup of Guinness into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, uncovered, until reduces to 1 tablespoon, about 20 minutes. Pour syrup into a small bowl and let cool.

Beat remaining cream and 3 tablespoons sugar until soft peaks form. Add 1 teaspoon (or more to your liking) of the Guinness syrup and beat until combined. Divide cream among 4-6 glasses of pudding and serve.

— Recipe from www.sprinklebakes.com.