Black & White Puddings

Black and white puddings is the dessert that looks like you fussed over it for hours but actually comes together in two batches in the microwave. Both the vanilla and the chocolate puddings start from the same buttermilk-cornstarch base. The buttermilk is what sets this apart from a standard milk pudding, giving each spoonful a faint tang that keeps the sweet from going one-note.

Whisk every minute during the microwave cook. Cornstarch puddings can scramble at the edges of the bowl while the center is still cool, and that whisking redistributes the heat and breaks up any lumps before they set. The egg goes in last and gets a brief 30-second cook on medium power, which thickens the proteins gently without curdling.

The marbling step is where the dessert earns its name. Pour both puddings into the same bowl simultaneously, then drag a fork through in figure-eights to swirl the dark and pale together without fully blending them. Don’t overdo it. Three or four passes through the surface gives a clean two-tone effect, more and you end up with brown.

Pro Tips

• Cool the puddings to barely warm, not hot, before swirling. Hot puddings blend into one shade instead of holding their lines.
• Use semi-sweet chocolate, not bittersweet or unsweetened, for the right sugar balance against the vanilla side.
• A glass measuring cup with a spout makes pouring two puddings simultaneously much easier than ladling.
• Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface during chilling to prevent a skin from forming.

Variations

• Swap chocolate for matcha powder or instant espresso for green or coffee marbling.
• Layer rather than swirl for a striped pudding parfait look.
• Top with crushed amaretti cookies, fresh raspberries, or whipped cream.