Decadent, indulgence …
Who can say no to a warm baked chocolate pudding on a cold winter’s day?
If you love chocolate this pudding will definitely be right up your alley. Heleen Meyer shares her saucy, chocolate pudding with nuts and coffee, which is absolutely decadent. Her recipe is similar to a well-known baked dessert with the crusty top layer, soft cake layer and a warm, gooey sauce underneath – absolute heaven!
Many versions of this pudding can be overly sweet, but Heleen uses much less sugar in her recipe and gives it a lovely twist, by adding coffee to bring out a deeper flavour and aroma. She prefers to use an espresso, but a good-quality filter or instant coffee can also work. Coffee helps to balance the sweetness of the sauce and is always a winning combination with chocolate. Remember to use good-quality coffee, cocoa and chocolate for the best flavour. The nuts add a bit of texture and an extra special touch.
When making this pudding there’s a few things to take note of. The method may seem strange, as the sauce is poured into the oven dish or individual ramekins first. Then the batter is spooned on top, which is how the pudding creates that beautiful sauce underneath the soft, spongy cake during the baking process. When testing the baked dessert, remember that the sauce may make the skewer or cake tester seem ‘wet’, so just make sure that the cake part is indeed baked all the way through. Make this comforting winter pudding soon and spoil your family or friends.
Saucy chocolate pudding with nuts & coffee
Recipe by Heleen Meyer
Serves 6–8
Sauce
375 ml (1½ cups) boiling water
125 ml (½ cup) strong black filter coffee (or espresso)
180 ml (¾ cup) soft brown sugar
30 ml (2 tbsp) good-quality cocoa
5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence
Batter
125 ml (½ cup) nuts of your choice, like raw unsalted macadamia nuts or almonds
60 ml (¼ cup) butter
125 ml (½ cup) sugar
1 extra large egg
5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla essence
250 ml (1 cup) cake flour
15 ml (1 tbsp) baking powder
25 ml (5 tsp) good-quality cocoa
150 ml milk
50 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped and extra for garnish
1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Lightly grease a 2,5-litre round, deep, ovenproof dish or 6-8 large ramekins or bowls (about 125 ml-250 ml in volume) with butter.
2. Sauce: Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over a medium temperature, while stirring until the sugar dissolves. Keep sauce warm.
3. Meanwhile, place the nuts on a baking tray and roast for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Take care as these can burn easily. Remove from the oven, cool and roughly chop. Set aside.
4. Batter: Beat butter and sugar together in a bowl with an electric beater until creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth.
5. Sieve dry ingredients together in a separate mixing bowl. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture alternating with the milk until well mixed. Stir in the chopped chocolate and most of the nuts. Keep some nuts aside for garnish.
6. Pour the warm sauce into the greased oven dish or ramekins. Spoon batter over and bake the large pudding for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick comes out clean. Bake the individual puddings for just 20 minutes or until done. Remember the sauce will make the skewer look ‘wet’ but just make sure the batter is baked through.
7. Garnish with extra chocolate and remaining nuts. Serve immediately as is or with a scoop of ice-cream.
For more recipes like this visit Heleen’s website https://heleenmeyer.co.za/
Image by Adel Ferreira for LiG Tydskrif