Chocolate pudding with black cardamom whipped cream

Weigh the dry mix into its container with the scale's tare function, lightest ingredient first.

Seal the mix and shake it well; store in bags of 200 grams each.

Put an inch to an inch and a half of water in a medium pot over high heat and bring to a boil; park a metal bowl wider than the pot on top.

Put 200 grams of the mix in the bowl and add the dairy slowly, whisking to an even homogeneous paste with everything suspended.

At bubble break reduce the heat to hold a gentle boil, not a raging one, or steam will overheat the bowl and drop condensation into the pudding.

Whisk every couple of minutes until the mixture reaches 150F.

Stay with it and check the temperature until it reaches 170 to 180F; 170 is better. It will seem thick, then thin out, darken and go glossy.

When it starts to tighten and get harder to whisk, cook at least five minutes more.

Kill the heat and stir in a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Pour into six single serving ramekins.

Lay plastic wrap or a parchment cartouche directly on the surface to stop a skin forming.

Cool on a rack for one hour, then refrigerate four hours to chill through.

Count out seven black cardamom pods and crush them under a towel; do not grind them fine.

Put the crushed pods in the cream and refrigerate a full 24 hours rather than heating to steep, which would dissolve the fat crystals needed for whipping.

Whip the cream by hand with the bowl sitting in an ice bath, wrist loose.

Add the pinch of salt and then the sugar in small doses only once a good foam has started.

Whip to stiff peaks; floppy peaks will not stand up on the pudding, and going much further makes butter.

Store whipped cream covered in the whipping bowl for up to a day; to re-whip fallen cream add one to two tablespoons of fresh cream first.