It’s Valentine’s Day today, and to celebrate, Linda wanted to make a dessert of some sort, preferably of the chocolate variety. Of course, for me, dessert is a difficult thing because it usually comes with three main foes: sugar, refined flour, and saturated fat. So, would it be possible to make something even resembling dessert without those ingredients, or at least as little as possible?  The answer is yes, and not only is this not bad for you, it’s actually good for you. Why? Because unsweetened cocoa powder is full of ingredients that have great health benefits.

Linda decided to make chocolate pudding and adapted a recipe that serves 6 and would normally contain 2/3 of a cup of sugar and an egg which includes the yolk. By replacing the sugar with Splenda, using only the egg white instead of the whole egg, and using nonfat milk, all in all, the nutritional information on this dessert is quite decent for those trying to eat well.

Here is the recipe:

1 large egg, white only
2 1/4 cup nonfat milk (divided)
2/3 cup Splenda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Lightly beat egg-white in a medium bowl. Set to the side.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 cup Splenda, and salt in medium saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Whisk remaining 1/3 cup Splenda, cocoa powder, and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Whisk in the remaining 3/4 cup of milk until blended.
4. Add cocoa mixture to saucepan, whisking constantly, for approximately 3 minutes or until thickened and shiny.
5. Add a small amount of the cocoa mixture to the beaten egg-white. Pour this egg mixture back into the saucepan on the stove.
6. Whisk constantly until steaming and thickened, about 2 minutes. Do not boil.
7. Add vanilla and serve.

This can be served warm or cold. We found that it was very tasty to dip pieces of fresh apple into the warm pudding, kind of like a chocolate fondue. Of course, you can try many different fruits, like strawberries or bananas etc.

Nutrition information (per serving, total yield is 6 servings)

74 Calories, 2 grams Total Fat, 1 gram Saturated Fat, 14 grams Total Carbohydrates, 4 grams Dietary Fiber, 6 grams Sugar, 6 grams Protein