(Vanilla extract has the same alcohol content too, so it's not a more "spirited" substitution except by suggestion!)

Whisk 2 x 359g pack of silken tofu in food processor/blender until it looks like thick smooth cream.
Add a couple of tablespoons of soft brown sugar or demarara sugar and mix in.
Melt 200g of good dark (e.g. 85% cocoa) chocolate in the microwave.
Pour the chocolate into the whisked tofu and mix in.
Add a couple of teaspoons of orange oil (to taste), mixing in.
Allow to cool and place in the refrigerator to chill.
Use cook's prerogative to scrape out the bowl!

*Tofu is healthy and dark chocolate is good for you...
**So long as you use decent dark chocolate without milk in it

dcb @4:
I know quite a few vegans who don't eat chocolate because the added sugar was probably typical white sugar, which is filtered through bone char (among other reasons, including that many varieties even of dark chocolate still have some amount of dairy added).

I keep mistyping "orange" as "organ" flavor, which sounds unappetizing.

It's quite rich so this would probably make 6-8 portions. It also freezes and thaws just fine, so you can make yourself several little treats...

dcb @4:
If you add exactly the right amount of orange oil, the result will taste just like Tootsie Rolls®! I discovered experimentally at a homemade ice cream party once upon a time that the instantly-recognizable Tootsie Roll® flavor is pretty much just cocoa + orange at just the right balance. Doesn't take much orange.

tsp = teaspoon = 5 mL

I read in a book that when the manufacturer mixes a bad batch of paint and it accidentally congeals that's called "livering" because it looks like liver. Perhaps chocolate pudding can do that too.

Just the thing for the current stormy weather in the UK.

Kind of like Scalzi's Schadenfreude pie?

Jim, #14: Thanks also -- the "1t = 5ml" measurement is something I can wrap my brain around, which will be useful for things beyond the realm of cooking.

TexAnne@22: Blantons (and I love the horse on the top of the cork), Rock Hill Farms - two rather nice single barrel bourbons which I have nestling in with my single malt collection. Bourbons are rather more like Irish whiskey than like Scotch whisky, being sweeter. They're not going to topple Talisker or 18yo Glenlivet from the top of my preference list, but I do enjoy them sometimes.

Which brings me to my question... can we have an extension of Trauma and You, about what to do when you are the patient? For adrenalin is a hell of a drug, and even someone with decent first aid training can make some pretty stupid decisions in the aftermath of an accident.

Hope you're feeling better.

TexAnne @22:
The other recommendations so far are good. I'd add a few that have become favorites around here: Booker's and Baker's [two more higher-end products from the Jim Beam line] and Black Maple Hill. If you're looking for a good "well" bourbon, one that is inexpensive but highly drinkable for the price and mixes well, Maker's Mark or Four Roses are good options. I'm told the latter is very popular in Kentucky; take from that what you will.

Baker's is the one I recommend to single-malt drinkers who are interested in discovering bourbon. To my taste it has a smoky quality that puts it a bit closer to scotches.

I also cherish my bottle of single-barrel private-bottling Four Roses; alas irreplaceable. Four Roses has a program in which they'll send you samples straight from four or five barrels that are ready for bottling. You decide which you want, and they then bottle the whole barrel outright, label it for you, and ship you the lot. Our favorite liquor store does this periodically in connection with a local whisk[e]y club, and we got a bottle from last year's barrel. It's scrumptious but now sold out.

Uses avocados, cocoa powder, vanilla, and something sweet - they say agave nectar, but I used plain old sugar. The avocados need to be very ripe, of course.

My not-vegan but lactose-intolerant sister was very pleased.

It turns out that cornstarch needs to get right up to the boiling point to properly thicken pudding. My ad-hoc double boiler setup is a thick plastic bowl on top of a saucepan, and a thick plastic bowl conducts heat too poorly to get the pudding hot enough.

I poured the whole mixture directly into the saucepan, turned the heat way down, and it firmed up very nicely.

I may have to play with this.

Ah, Basil Hayden. A while back, I was poking around at a genealogy site with PNH's data (and his permission), and came back to report that he might consider going to the liquor store, getting a bottle of one of Basil Hayden's offerings, and photoshopping a new label for it that said Old Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grand-Dad Whiskey.

Also, now I want pudding. And I don't even like pudding. Jim, you fiend.

Some years back, at a slush-kill Patrick was unable to attend, we brought a bottle of Basil Hayden so Patrick could be with us in spirit.

A wee dram from a friend once in a while is sufficient, going to a tasting is too much. Unless I sit next to my Jim, who lets me have sniff and a wee sip if it smells good.

The saddest face I ever saw was a friend who was sharing out a very expensive bottle of scotch, I took a sniff and told him, "I can't swallow it, it smells too much like basic scotch..." (My dad's favorites were expensive blends, they always made me gag from the scent profile.) Actually the quote in the local area's regular con "one liner/non sequitur" Sunday 'zine was "Sorry, it won't swallow."

Anything that requires a double boiler, like melting chocolate, can be done in the microwave, because there's no direct heat to scorch it. You just need to stop and stir every minute or so.

The cooking directions say to cook on high 3 min, then stir. Cook on high for 2 to 8 mins. more, until boiling and thickened, stopping every minute to stir to keep it smooth.

The leftovers used to separate a bit in the fridge overnight, but I'd just whisk it a bit, and it'd be fine.

I haven't made it in years. Maybe I need to rectify that!