# What happened to my pudding?



## jefals (Feb 2, 2011)

Hi,

I had a chocolate pudding recipe, that was basically cream, cornstarch, chocolate chips.  It said to cook, stirring frequently over med or med-low until it was thick and smooth, about 25 minutes.
So, to me, it looked like it was probably ready after 20 minutes.  Looked nice and dark chocolately, shiny, felt thick -- But I wasn't sure, so continued to cook -- and, all of a sudden, it seemed like something like oil started to appear.   
Was that supposed to happen?   I'm thinking it was either the cream or the chocolate "breaking down"...

Thanks,
Jeff


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Feb 2, 2011)

If you let it come to a boil, the proteins in the cream probably congealed and separated from the fat.  This is called breaking the sauce, or custard, or...

In other words, yes, you cooked it too long and allowed it to get too hot.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## jefals (Feb 2, 2011)

ok, thank ya, GW


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## babetoo (Feb 2, 2011)

welcome to d.c.


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## garlicjosh (Feb 2, 2011)

yeah, sounds like a broken custard to me


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## jefals (Feb 2, 2011)

By "broken custard", you mean you agree that the fat separated out of the cream, is that right?   Because the pudding, as I mentioned, looked, to me at least, how I thought it should look after 20 minutes -- rich and creamy, and seemed to have the right consistency.  But after another minute or so, once that oily stuff started floating to the top, the pudding seemed to sort of fall apart -- kind of started looking lumpy, like it lost it's strength, or elasticity, or something....

(btw, can someone tell me what's the difference between posting a reply, and posting a quick reply on this forum?)


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## garlicjosh (Feb 2, 2011)

jefals said:


> By "broken custard", you mean you agree that the fat separated out of the cream, is that right?   Because the pudding, as I mentioned, looked, to me at least, how I thought it should look after 20 minutes -- rich and creamy, and seemed to have the right consistency.  But after another minute or so, once that oily stuff started floating to the top, the pudding seemed to sort of fall apart -- kind of started looking lumpy, like it lost it's strength, or elasticity, or something....
> 
> (btw, can someone tell me what's the difference between posting a reply, and posting a quick reply on this forum?)



yep. the fat separated and the emulsion broke.
Just like in making home made mayo.
all the recipes I have looked at basically say to stir until "pudding thick" and then remove from heat, fold in vanilla....

reply and quick reply are the same thing,  however reply has more options for formating and such.


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## Josie1945 (Feb 2, 2011)

Welcome To DC.

Josie


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## Zhizara (Feb 3, 2011)

garlicjosh said:


> yep. the fat separated and the emulsion broke.
> Just like in making home made mayo.
> all the recipes I have looked at basically say to stir until "pudding thick" and then remove from heat, fold in vanilla....
> 
> reply and quick reply are the same thing,  however reply has more options for formating and such.



And smileys  Welcome to DC.


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