For all you chocolate lovers, this coffee pudding is the ultimate dream dessert! Layered with fresh, plump raspberries and a velvety, luscious chocolate filling, this homemade pudding is the perfect sweet touch to finish any meal!
Desserts are the absolute best and if you love coffee desserts, then this coffee pudding will quickly become a favorite! While I love a good chocolate peanut butter fudge recipe or a moist and delicious bundt cake, there's just something about a good pudding recipe that just satisfies a craving like nothing else.
And I'm not talking about pudding out of a box like I use in this strawberry trifle dessert. I'm talking about the homemade version made with cream and butter. This coffee pudding is a sweet coffee flavored dessert that is made with cream and espresso and is then layered with whipped cream and fresh, plump raspberries.
Just like my summer berry trifle, it's both soft and silky. And it has a subtle hint of coffee flavor in every bite. Served cold, it has a creamy rich flavor that is beyond delicious! Made with fresh ingredients, you'll never want to make instant pudding again. It's that good!
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✔️ Quick Recipe Overview
Why This Is The Best Coffee Pudding: This silky pudding is an easy coffee dessert that is made with simple ingredients. It's the perfect finish to any meal or for a Valentine's Day sweet treat!
How Long It Takes: 10 minutes to prep, 20 minutes to cook, and 4 hours to chill.
Equipment You'll Need: measuring cups and spoons, heavy bottom saucepan, whisk, bowl, plastic wrap
ℹ️ Why This Recipe Works
1. It's a no-bake recipe.
2. This coffee dessert is layered with fresh raspberries, silky coffee pudding, and whipped cream.
3. Enjoy it as a snack or dessert! It also makes a great Valentine's Day dessert!
🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
It's important to note a couple of things about some of the ingredients used to make this coffee dessert.
- Full-Fat Dairy: Always use full fat milk and heavy cream when making this coffee pudding recipe. These are the key ingredients to creating an extremely creamy texture.
- Butter: Do not use margarine. Use salted butter. The hint of salt is just enough to cut some of the sweetness.
- Espresso Powder: Not only does espresso powder work extremely well in baking, but it also does well when making homemade pudding. It won't lump or clump and this is the ingredient that gives it that subtle coffee flavor.
- Cocoa Powder: Adds a chocolate flavor to the pudding.
- Cornstarch: Helps the pudding thicken to the right consistency.
- Eggs: They are a binding and thickening agent. They also add to the flavor.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
📋 Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
Step 1: Start by whisking together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and espresso powder in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
Step 2: Once everything is well-combined, pour in the milk and heavy cream.
Step 3: The mixture will look clumpy, but keep whisking over medium heat until it starts to simmer, but not boil. It will eventually smooth out.
Step 4: Now that the silky pudding mixture is nice and warm, turn off the heat.
Step 5: In a small bowl, temper the egg yolks and vanilla extract.
👩🍳 Chef's Note: To temper means to place the egg yolks and vanilla extract in a separate bowl and then scoop in a small amount of the warm cream mixture and whisk. Ensure you don't put in too much cream mixture at once. About a ¼ cup at a time works well.
Step 6: Repeat this process 3 or 4 times and then add the egg mixture to the saucepan. This allows you to gently heat the egg yolks.
Important Note: If you were to dump the eggs yolks into the hot cream all at once, you could end up with bits of scrambled eggs in the pudding. No one wants that, so please don't skip this step.
Step 7: With the eggs tempered and now in the saucepan, turn the heat back to medium and continue whisking until the mixture simmers and thickens. The mixture won't be as thick as pudding quite yet, but don't worry. It will thicken up perfectly in the refrigerator.
Step 8: After the mixture thickens and comes to a simmer, turn off the heat and stir in a touch of butter. This adds to the silky smooth texture.
Step 9: Pour the coffee pudding into a bowl and cover the top with plastic wrap. Don't just cover the bowl. Make sure you actually cover the pudding with plastic wrap, which will prevent any film from forming. Once it has slightly cooled, place the pudding in the refrigerator for a few hours to set.
Step 10: Once the pudding has set, start placing the fresh raspberries into parfait glasses. Divide half the raspberries among four glasses and then layer on some pudding. Repeat the process and top with a dollop of a whipped cream and a mint leaf if you're so inclined, though the garnish is optional. Now grab a spoon and dig into the most decadent coffee pudding dessert and enjoy every bite!
This no-bake coffee pudding recipe has a flavor that is so deep and intense, everyone is going to enjoy! And the raspberries brighten things right up in such a lovely way!
🙋 Recipe FAQs
Pudding is cooked while mousse is not cooked. Pudding has a thicker consistency because the cornstarch activates with heat.
Any leftover pudding should be tightly covered and stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Yes! You can make this pudding up to 3 days before serving.
💭 Expert Tips
- When heating the milk and heavy cream mixture, do not bring it to a boil. Keep it to a simmer. The proteins in milk can potentially break if it boils, leaving you with curdled pudding. Let's avoid that.
- While I recommend serving after chilling for a few hours, you could also serve it warm off the stove. The pudding won't be quite as thick as it is after chilling, but warm pudding is also delicious, especially over a pound cake or this apple cinnamon cake.
- Try using this pudding as a cake or cupcake filling!
- You can use your typical dessert serving ware, but I like to use a martini or wine glass for a fun presentation, especially if I'm serving these for Valentine's Day!
🍰 More Dessert Recipes
If you tried this coffee pudding or any other recipes on my website, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below. I love hearing from you! And, please leave a 🌟 rating while you're there!
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Decadent Coffee Pudding
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoons espresso powder
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons butter cut into small cubes
- 2 cups raspberries
- Whipped cream optional, for garnish
- Mint leaves optional, for garnish
Instructions
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and espresso powder until well combined.
- Add the heavy cream and whole milk and turn on the heat to medium.
- Whisk constantly until dry ingredients smooth out in the heavy cream and milk and the mixture simmers. Do not boil.
- Once the mixture simmers and smooths out, turn off the heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla extract.
- Spoon in ¼ cup of the cream mixture into the egg yolks and vanilla extract and whisk until combined. Repeat three or four more times.
- Add the egg yolk mixture to the saucepan with the remaining heavy cream and return to medium heat. Constantly whisk until the mixture thickens and simmers. Do not boil. The mixture won't be as thick as pudding, but it will thicken as it chills.
- After the mixture comes to a simmer, turn off the heat and stir in the butter until it melts.
- Cover the top of the pudding with plastic wrap to prevent a film from forming. Allow to cool and then refrigerate until it sets and chills, about 4 hours.
- To make the parfaits, divide one cup of raspberries among four glasses and top with pudding. Divide the remaining raspberries among the four glasses and top with the rest of the pudding. If desired, top with a dollop of whipped cream and mint leaves.
Notes
- When heating the milk and heavy cream mixture, do not bring it to a boil. Keep it to a simmer. The proteins in milk can potentially break if it boils, leaving you with curdled pudding. Let's avoid that.
- You can make this pudding up to three days before serving.
- While I recommend serving after chilling for a few hours, you could also serve it warm off the stove. The pudding won't be quite as thick as it is after chilling, but warm pudding is also delicious.
- Try using this pudding as a cake or cupcake filling!
- You can use your typical dessert serving ware, but I like to use a martini or wine glass for a fun presentation, especially if I'm serving these for Valentine's Day!
Lezlee Ellison
Love this! I especially love the addition of mocha. My mother-in-law loves coffee and I made this last year for her birthday, on Mothers Day I made parfait, today for her birthday I am going to use it in a poke cake, I am thinking it will end up similar to tiramisu. Thanks for a wonderful recipe that I will use for years to come!
Amanda Mason
Oh I am so glad to hear this!! Thank you for sharing with me and how your mother-in-law loves it!! Thank you for tryin my recipes and let me know what other recipes of mine you try!!
Jagruti Dhanecha
This mocha parfait is heavenly for chocolate lovers and the fact is that so easy to prepare.