TWD: Split Level Pudding - Vanilla and Chocolate Hazelnut

My participation in Tuesdays with Dorie has obviously become rather sporadic of late. I'm thinking with the line-up of recipes for October that I should be able to manage for the most part, but who knows, right?

Anyway, I did get my act together enough to make this week's recipe, chosen by Garrett of Flavor of Vanilla, for the Split Level Pudding - in my case with a layer of Homemade Chocolate Hazelnut spread, that, though not as smooth, definitely rivals Nutella in a taste test. The recipe for the spread comes from Gale Gand and as soon as I get organized just a bit more, I will share the recipe here as well.

The only other change I made to the recipe was to make a one-third portion, which was just perfect for two 4 oz servings, which is all I needed since it was only myself and my two little kiddos eating the pudding. I layered about two tablespoons of the chocolate hazelnut spread in the bottom of each ramekin and then made the pudding, which literally took about 5 minutes. I skipped all the stovetop directions and food processor as well since it was such a small amount to manage. If I were making the full version of the recipe, I would probably go ahead and take advantage of the food processor, but the microwave was just faster and easier in this case.

I really enjoyed the pudding - which was a little surprising for me since I usually don't enjoy puddings much at all (unless they are in a pie or tart shell). I think I liked it more here because of the texture of the hazelnut spread - and of course all those pretty chocolate curls on top don't hurt anything either!

I am still bummed at myself that I didn't get my act together enough to make the tart last week, and it is definitely on my to-do list for some time when I have more energy and time because I've had that recipe bookmarked for a long time.

My apologies to my fellow TWDer's for all my slacking lately, but since I know you understand, I won't whine about it more here. As for my pregnancy, it is going as well as we can expect - which is to say, I'm still sick and we're still waiting to see what happens when the third trimester rolls around in a few weeks. In the meantime, I've started feeling the baby bumping around in there, so that is good and on time. We still haven't found out what we are having since the Doctor wants to do an in depth ultrasound with us on the 15th - so an announcement one way or the other is eminent!

Thank you again and again you all for visiting! I treasure all your comments and hope to get some time and energy soon visit your blogs and get caught up - I have been so out of touch!