For an easy yet decadent Halloween treat, you'll love these mummy pudding cups. Made with the creamiest, richest homemade chocolate pudding, this mummy-themed dessert is perfect for any Halloween celebration.
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Who says you have to be a gifted dessert decorator to make an oh-so cute Halloween treat? Not this lady. With just a quick, imperfect drizzle of candy melts, you can create these mummy pudding cups.
I also love these Halloween pudding cups because you can make them ahead of any festive celebration. As I've frequently discussed, I'm a sucker for make-ahead dishes when it's time to entertain. Halloween is a busy time. You have costumes to prepare and scary movies to watch, so keeping a few Halloween make-ahead dishes in your back pocket is always handy.
Related: For more festive treats, check out my Halloween toffee and this candy corn poke cake from Call Me PMc.com.
Ingredients for Mummy Pudding Cups
Before we start, let’s organize our ingredients. Here’s what we need to make these fun Halloween pudding cups.
- Cocoa powder
- Sugar
- Espresso powder
- Cornstarch
- Heavy cream
- Milk
- Egg yolks
- Vanilla extract or paste
- Butter
- White candy melts
- Candy eyes
You’ll notice my chocolate pudding recipe calls for a mixture of heavy cream and milk. A lot of pudding recipes just use milk, which is traditional, but I like to use a combination. I find the heavy cream adds a luxurious touch you can’t get with milk alone.
For the cocoa powder, feel free to use natural or Dutch process. In this batch, I used the natural variety for the simple fact that I was almost out of my Dutch process cocoa. That said, if I had both on hand, I would've gone with the Dutch process because I love the deep flavor and color, but both varieties make a tasty pudding.
How to Make Chocolate Pudding
If you’ve never cooked homemade pudding, it may seem intimidating, but I promise it’s a simple process even for the novice cook.
The secret to fail-proof pudding? Don’t let the mixture boil. Boiling can cause the milk to separate. As long as you follow that easy but crucial tip, I have no doubt you’ll make a perfect batch of chocolate pudding.
Now let's get to it. To start, we mix together cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar and espresso powder. We then add the heavy cream and milk and cook over medium heat.
Initially, the mixture will look like a clumpy mess but don't panic. Just keep whisking and it'll smooth out like so.
Once the mixture comes to a simmer, we turn off the heat and add a ladle of the cream mixture to a few egg yolks and vanilla extract. This step allows us to gently incorporate the egg yolks to prevent them from turning into scrambled eggs from excessive heat.
After a few ladles, we add everything back to the saucepan and bring to a simmer again. We turn off the heat, add some butter and allow to chill. See? Easy as can be.
How to Decorate
With our chocolate pudding ready, let’s put together our mummy pudding cups. For this step, we melt some white candy melts and then pour the mixture into a squeeze bottle. Now we drizzle the melted mixture back and forth in the same direction over the pudding cup, place these candy eyes toward the top and serve.
Seriously, could this be any easier? I don't think so.
Perfect Pairing for Mummy Pudding Cups
This chocolate explosion calls for an imperial stout. Inherently, imperial stouts contain a high ABV, which gives them some residual sweetness. This makes our bold beer perfect with desserts, especially with chocolate when combined with the stout’s roasty notes.
As always, I’m a sucker for a ruby port with chocolate desserts when wine calls, and I have no plans to change. Why mess with what works? The sweet berry notes in the port are always delicious with a chocolatey dessert.
For a festive Halloween dessert, I hope you try these mummy pudding cups.
Cheers!
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📖 Recipe
Mummy Pudding Cups
Equipment
- Medium saucepan
- Plastic wrap
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder (see note)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons espresso powder
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or paste
- 2 tablespoons salted butter diced
- ½ cup white candy melts
- Candy eyes (see note)
Instructions
- In a saucepan, whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and espresso powder until well combined.
- Over medium heat, add heavy cream and whole milk. Whisk constantly to ensure no lumps form. Bring to a simmer but do not boil.
- Turn off the heat. Whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Ladle in about ¼ cup of the cream mixture into the egg mixture and whisk until combined. Repeat three or four more times.
- Add the egg yolk-cream mixture to the saucepan with the remaining heavy cream. Turn to medium heat again and 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.
- Turn off the heat again and stir in the diced butter until it melts. Pour the pudding into a bowl and directly cover the surface of the pudding with plastic wrap to prevent a film from forming. Allow to cool and then refrigerate until it sets and chills, about four hours.
- Spoon the pudding into your serving cups. Melt the white candy melts according to package directions and pour into a squeeze bottle. Drizzle the candy melts on top of the pudding in a back-and-forth motion. If serving right away, gently place the candy eyes toward the top and serve. If storing the pudding in the refrigerator ahead of serving, cover with plastic wrap, but don't allow the plastic wrap to directly touch the surface of the pudding this time. Add candy eyes right before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can use natural or Dutch process cocoa powder. The Dutch process will be darker than photographed and tends to have a deeper flavor.
- For the candy eyes, I used the jumbo size because I spooned the pudding into martini glasses for larger servings. However, if you'd like to serve the pudding in smaller glasses to get more servings out of a batch for a party, the small size would be better.
- You can make the pudding about three to four days ahead of time and store in the refrigerator.
- Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Debbie says
Homemade puddings sound intimidating but your directions made it so easy. We host a small Halloween party every year and I served these mummy pudding cups and they were the talk of the party. Delicious and so cute and fun. Thanks for a great recipe.
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
So, so glad to hear that, Debbie!
Tammy says
Such a cute little treat for the holiday for both kids and adults ^_^
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Totally! Thanks, Tammy!
Catherine says
Oooh these look so adorable! What a fun and easy Halloween treat to whip up!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Thank you! I thought they were fun.
Denise says
What a fun and delicious treat for anyone at any age. I love this idea, thanks for sharing it!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
You're welcome!
Gina says
OMG upon seeing my first thought was "how cute and creative!" Could I add pumpkin puree to this? And I too like the idea of heavy cream as I like rich pudding. Could I use both heavy cream and coconut milk? (I LOVE the flavor of coconut milk.)
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Thank you so much, Gina! I haven't tried it with coconut milk, but I bet it would work. I'm a huge fan of it too! While I haven't added pumpkin puree to this particular chocolate pudding recipe, I have made a pumpkin pudding recipe in the past with 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, and it was a hit. Let me know how it goes!
Leslie says
Oh my gosh...I LOVE these! So incredibly cute and creative!! I love recipes that are festive and easy! I'm a horrible decorator!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
Thank you! You’ll have a blast making these!
GUNJAN C Dudani says
So perfect and cute for Halloween. My daughter would love this. I think I will surprise her with your recipe on Thursday.
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
That sounds like a sweet surprise! ❤️
Tara says
This is too cute. What a great and easy idea! I love the addition of espresso powder with the chocolate. I think even just a little brings out the flavor of chocolate so well. Thanks for such a perfect holiday idea!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
? percent! I always love a little espresso with my chocolate desserts.
Chef Dennis says
I love this recipe! You know that adults love pudding as much as kids and it would be a fun party treat for an adult party or a kids party!
Amanda McGrory-Dixon says
For sure! I love that both crowds love these pudding cups.