Chocolate Pudding

1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoons salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder or 2 squares bakers chocolate, chopped
3 cups milk
4 egg yolks (or 2 whole eggs) beaten
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons butter

Combine dry ingredients in a baggie and shake to mix well. (You may want to add a ½ teaspoon more cocoa and cornstarch, you lose some to the bag)  In a Dutch oven, combine dry ingredients and milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a spatula, making sure to scrape the bottom, as the mixture will thicken and congeal there first. Boil for 2 minutes. Stir one cup of the hot mixture into the beaten yolks to temper them. Add the egg mixture back into the pudding, bring back to a low boil, reduce heat to low and cook for one minute more. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm or cold.

 Variation for Vanilla Pudding

Reduce sugar to ¾ cup and omit cocoa powder/chocolate. Increase vanilla to one tablespoon.