1. Steep the vanilla bean in milk.

Add the 2 cups of whole milk to a saucepan. Stir in 1/4 cup of honey. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, then quarter each half of the vanilla bean and drop it into the mixture.

Heat over low-medium heat until you start to see little bubbles starting to form around the edges. Turn off the heat and let it sit about 1 minute.

While the milk heats, whisk together the egg yolks in a medium heat proof mixing bowl until smooth.

2. Create the pudding base.

Whisk the egg yolks together and splash about 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture into them while whisking. This will raise the temperature of the yolks without cooking them. Splash another 1/4 cup into the yolks while whisking. And another 1/4 cup!

Then pour all the egg yolks into the remaining milk in the saucepan (the stove should still be off at this point). Whisk together until smooth (aside from the vanilla bean pieces which should still be bopping around). Then get back to a normal cooking spoon or spatula to stir. 

Turn the heat back on to low. Heat mixture, stirring constantly, for about 5-10 minutes until it hits 180F. It will start to thicken slowly as it reaches 180F. Be careful not to exceed 180F! If any part of the pudding base hits 185, you will have scrambled egg. Your best friends are low heat, constant stirring, and a thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer for any reason, the traditional wisdom is to stir until it thickens enough to coat the back of a silverware spoon. 

As soon as the mixture reaches 180F, take it off the heat. Congrats, you now have custard.

3. Make it into chocolate pudding.

Pour the custard through a strainer into a clean heat-proof bowl. Chop up the 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and drop it into the custard. Let it sit for about two minutes, then stir well. The chocolate should be mostly melted by that point, but stir until the chocolate is fully incorporated (don’t worry if the color looks a bit pebbled – it will go away after you add the cocoa). Then add the 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and the 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Whisk into the pudding until fully combined and to make sure there are no cocoa lumps.

4. Allow the pudding to set.

Let the pudding come down to room temperature. Place into little pudding pots (I use 6 1/2 cup mason jars) or keep it altogether in one big bowl. Refrigerate until cold. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools.

5. Enjoy!