Cacao Nib Mexican Chocolate Pudding
This Cacao Nib Mexican Chocolate Pudding is easy and tastes so much better than store bought pudding. It has a great kick to it with cacao nibs, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper – one way to spice up Valentine’s Day and impress your better half.
When I first saw the word cacao, I assumed someone had made a typo and swapped the a’s and o’s, meaning to say cocoa instead. Cocoa powder is actually cacao roasted at high temperatures. Supposedly, cacao powder has more fiber and calories than cocoa powder because the nutrients from the whole bean are still intact.


Cacao nibs have a chocolatey taste, but they’re definitely much less sweet. The nibs contain theobromine, the bitter alkaloid part of the plant. This is found in tea and the component is similar to coffee. Theobromine means “food (broma) of the gods (theo)”, which is a pretty apt description for chocolate, tea, and coffee. (source).
Cacao’s impact on cognitive function, blood pressure, heart health, and mood has been published in Circulation, the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, Nature.
For my non-scientist/doctor readers, those journals are super prestigious – if you publish here, it’s a huge career win. So clearly chocolate is important to us (and I’d happily volunteer to be a subject in their studies).
B feels like eating cacao nibs is like eating chocolate dirt, and the bitterness is somewhat of an acquired taste. If you love dark chocolate over sugary chocolates, then you’ll enjoy cacao’s flavors. I do eat occasionally cacao nibs straight up, but prefer to eat cacao as a topping, especially with chocolate items since the flavors go excellently.
Cacao Nib Mexican Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
3 large egg yolks, beaten
1 cup Dutch cocoa powder
3/5 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-4 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cacao nibs
Directions
In a medium bowl, beat your egg yolks and set aside.
In a large saucepan set over medium heat, combine the cocoa, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and 2 cups of the milk. Stir constantly as it boils and thickens, about 8-10 min to avoid lumps. Reduce the heat to low.
Pour some of the hot mixture into another bowl with your egg yolks, then stir the egg yolks back into the hot mixture to temper it (slowly cook it without scrambling). Stir constantly until the mixture thickens to the consistency of pudding. Add the remaining 1-2 cups of milk to reach your desired thickness. Mix in the cinnamon, cayenne pepper and vanilla extract. Remove from the heat.
Place plastic wrap over the saucepan to prevent a skin from forming, and then cool (I chilled mine in the fridge overnight). To serve, spoon into ramekins and top with cacao nibs. Enjoy!
OMG! This looks divine. You have pretty much combined all of my favourite flavours into one recipe. Also on a side note, your styling and photography on this post is simply gorgeous.
I have always been afraid of spicy chocolate. I have not tried it yet, but I will believe you that it is good! I do love chocolate, so why not?
Good dirt. Very uhh… earthy flavor
Thanks, glad you liked it! These are my fav flavors too
You can gradually add it so it's not overwhelmingly spicy, and so you find the right kick level 😉
😛
Oh my gosh! You had me at chocolate. These look scrumptious!
That looks amazing. I think my daughter would love it. She always thinks chocolate can be too sweet so a less sweet chocolate is perfect.
Oh yummy!!! This sounds so easy and delicious!
This sounds excellent. How do you store your nibs? I had some and they developed a musty smell and taste.
Talk about creamy perfection right here!
This looks delicious! Chocolate is a favourite over here 🙂
I much prefer cacao to cocoa. Much less bitter!
thanks! chocolate is always a winner
I agree, I definitely prefer darker chocolate
Easy and fast enough for a tired, busy resident to do it 🙂
Hmm, I just keep mine in a bag but I haven't had them long enough to notice any changes. I'll switch mine to an airtight container after what you said though – they're not cheap
thank you, I agree 🙂
Chocolate trumps any flavor when it comes to pudding
My husband would agree with you haha. He likes sweet, I like dark/bitter
This looks delicious!! Would you say this pudding has more of a dark chocolate taste, or does the milk and sugar make it taste more milk-chocolatey??
Now I want pudding…my wilpower is curling up to hibernate and I'm mak8ing a new grocery list.
i had the same initial thought, and stubbornly refused to believe i was wrong for quite some time! what a great addition to your puddings. 🙂
Those look incredible!! I never knew there was a difference between cacao and cocoa. Love learning little things like that 😉
I just saw cacao nibs on line and thought what would I do with those?! Timing is perfect. This looks incredible!
It's definitely dark chocolate (my favorite) but you can adjust the sugar for a sweeter taste
Yeah my husband calls it storing winter fat for warmth 😉
Thanks grace! It definitely grows on you
No problem, learning something new everyday is why I keep this blog
Perfect. timing indeed 🙂 enjoy!