Chocolate Pudding for Tyler Florence Fridays

We just got back from vacation this week and I am ready to relax!! Whew! We were so busy on vacation!! My husband turned 40, we celebrated our wedding anniversary, we drove 4 days in the car with 2 kids, went to two parks down in Disney, and went on a Disney cruise. We had a blast with our friends from Ohio and really enjoyed watching all the kids play together. My little guy also had a great time on his first trip to Disney. He is a huge Mickey fan and was so happy to meet all the characters. It was a great time.

My daughter will be eight years old on Sunday. Her birthday came up so fast, especially since we were gone on vacation. Unfortunately, her birthday coincides with the Kentucky Derby every year and there are so many people that have plans and cannot make it to her party . Sometimes we reschedule the party for the next weekend, but then it is Mother's Day. Additionally, there are all the other spring time commitments such as showers, weddings, vacations. This year we decided to skip the big party and just go with what was easy......a small family party. My daughter, Olivia, loves chocolate and pasta more than anything else. Right now, I am trying to decide if we should have a pasta party OR a chocolate party.....What's a girl to do??????????

While we were on the cruise, chocolate pudding was her dessert of choice and she seemed to really like it. I decided to go with this Tyler recipe this week as a special treat to Olivia. I'm sure she'll enjoy it very much. I have tons of faith in Tyler's dessert recipes. You can find the recipe here.

The pudding was delicious and rich. I used the standard Hershey's cocoa and found there to be slight coffee aftertaste. I don't make pudding very often, but I would make this again. I just got some Grand Marnier and Chambord at the duty free shop. I'd like to flavor the pudding or the whipped cream with one of those liqueurs. I bet that would be fantastic. Olivia likes her pudding with toppings: Reese cups, m&m's, chocolate chips, and anything else she can get her hands on.

I'm going to be doing a lot of cooking this weekend. We're going to a Derby Party Saturday and having a birthday party here on Sunday. I 'm not sure what I'm making for either of those parties. I do know that I will be making Tyler's Grilled Lamb Chops with Smashed Potatoes and Peas sometime this weekend.