Looking for something chocolatey and decadent for dessert? Look no further than the masterful Italian budino. It’s a homemade chocolate custard that’s a cross between pudding and mousse. The custard is mixed with dark chocolate and espresso to create an explosion of chocolate flavor. They are set in small jars or ramekins to give the illusion of a little flower cup. Further, the illusion is created by crushing up chocolate cookies and spreading them over each other, then topping with a simple homemade whipped cream to tie it all together. A chocolate dessert worth writing about.

Chocolate is not my first choice when it comes to desserts because it’s very rich for my palate. The combination of melted chocolate with sugar tends to overload my taste buds. This pudding has such a light texture due to its custardy beginnings, but also using dark chocolate and instant espresso helps to offset the sweetness with bitterness. One of my favorite sweet flavors that often gets overlooked in chocolate things. Think how a sour cherry pie is balanced with a scoop of ice cream. That’s what I want.

I decided to make this for my little cousin’s birthday party and dressed them up with little chocolate teddy grahams. They loved it! I use a bunch of randomly sized small jars I found in my house that I collect from old candles and old restaurants to make 12 of the cutest-looking desserts at the table.

The two components that make this dessert extraordinary are cookies and whipped cream. Who doesn’t love those? I found it rather limiting searching for crisp chocolate cookies at the grocery store, so I ended up using chocolate Teddy Grahams, and they worked great! My first choice was Brownie Brittle, and my last resort was Oreos.

Homemade whipped cream makes a big splash in anything you put it on, and this is no different. I sweetened the cream slightly with powdered sugar, then flavored it with vanilla and bourbon. You can obviously omit the alcohol if making this for kids, but to create a fun date night version, bourbon is the way to go. The cream lightens everything up and just adds a fun element for everyone.

If you have flowers to decorate these flower cups, use edible or pretty non-edible flowers. Just make sure to let your guests know. I used mint for the flowers to really write home the planter flower effect, and it totally worked.

This is one of those desserts where you save a little extra custard in the mixing bowl and find a safe space to lick the bowl clean. It’s a dessert that can be for a special occasion like an anniversary or a cousin’s birthday party. Easy, tasty, and so pretty to look at!