Why won't my pudding thicken up? Some of you might have noticed recently I am dabbling with pudding. Well - to no avail.

This is my recipe:


yolks -  1
cocoa -  30ml
sugar -  60ml
butter - 10ml
milk -   164ml
starch - 14ml


And the pudding just won't thicken. Once I even tried with double the amount of corn starch.

I have no idea what is going on, 14ml of corn starch is approx. 8.4g. I am using such tiny measures, because I am still testing it and would not like to end up with a big batch of yuck!.

In addition my hotplates are stupid and even the lowest setting is way too strong and burns anything you attempt to cook on it, that is why I decided to stir the pudding with a mixer/electric beater to ensure it will be stirred so fast - it will not have a chance to burn.

I will be getting a new oven soon, but in the meantime I would appreciate any advice.
You are probably stirring the pudding too much. Cornstarch starts thickening at about 205°F/95°C. Once the pudding has got to that point and has thickened, stop stirring, otherwise you will interfere with the starch formation that causes the thickening. Using electric beaters probably means you are missing the point when the pudding has thickened and quickly beating the living daylights out of any starch formation that has occurred.

It may also be the case that you are beating so much air into the pudding that it just doesn't get hot enough to activate the cornstarch in the first place. I would use @ecnerwal's suggestion of a double boiler, along with a balloon whisk, and some patience.