By Daniel M. Berry
© Copyright 1994 by Daniel M. Berry

Do not let the idea of garlic or the quantity turn you off from tasting it. Remember that cooked garlic is very mild, even sweet. Also remember that pure chocolate is very bitter; sugar is added to make it sweet and palatable, and no one thinks twice about chocolate cream pie or pudding. Finally, remember that garlic ice cream is served annually at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.

Ingredients:

1. One 9-inch graham cracker crust (I cheat and buy a prepared one, but you can make it from scratch using any standard recipe).
2. 1.25 cup sugar
3. .33 cup unsweetened powdered cocoa
4. puree from 4 baked garlics (baked for about an hour and crushed to squeeze out all the good stuff)
5. .33 cup cornstarch
6. .25 teaspoon salt
7. 3 cups milk
8. 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
9. 1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract

Algorithm:

In medium sauce pan, mix sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, and garlic. As you add milk cup by cup, begin heating over medium heat, stir continually as mixture comes to boil. Then boil for 3 minutes while stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in butter and vanilla; keep stirring until butter is melted and blended. Let cool to room temperature while covered with plastic wrap to prevent the surface from forming a hard membrane. Pour into crust. If you made too much, then put rest into bowl for pudding and/or lick the pan clean.

Let pie cool about an hour on rack and then cool in refrigerator until it is nice and cold. Serve with whipped cream.

Notes:

The four heads of garlic are essential. Less than that and the taste of the garlic disappears before a piece is finished. With 2 heads, the taste of the garlic gets lost to the chocolate after the first bite. With 3 heads, the taste lasts about halfway through the eating of a piece. I suppose that if your desire is to lose the garlic taste, fewer heads than four might be desirable. But in that case, why in heaven's name are you eating a garlic dessert any way?

I have discovered that a frozen pie feels like an ice cream pie and has a different taste; some think that it is better than just refrigerator cold.

I have also found that this pudding takes away the lingering bite that makes you thirsty after a good Mexican or Szechwan meal. Other puddings, e.g. plain chocolate, do not seem to have this property. Maybe the garlic has something to do with this.