In the depths of winter, one dessert reigns supreme in my household. On a dark, wet night (or even a gloomy afternoon with a chill in the air), one of us will generally say to the other, ‘I think it’s a night for chocolate pudding’.
They’re usually right – not much compares to digging a spoon into a molten puddle of old-fashioned self-saucing chocolate pudding in times of woe and bad weather (even if you have to make it yourself). It’s even better eaten as breakfast the next day. Here’s how to treat your whanau to a nostalgic treat that pushes all the right buttons.
CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY SELF-SAUCING CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Serves 4-8
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
This makes a generous amount, but there’s really no point in making less. Some tips for beginners:
- Make sure you use a large ovenproof dish, because nothing kills the ‘we’re having self-saucing chocolate pudding’ vibe more than having to scrape burnt pudding off the bottom of the oven.
- To change it up, omit the raspberries and add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes to the dry ingredients for a slightly Mexican-ish hint of spice.
- Add some roughly chopped dark chocolate to the batter – say, 125g? – and the finely grated zest of an orange to the batter.
- No raspberries? No problem. Leave them out, or subsitute some chopped prunes that you’ve soaked in rum or brandy.
- Need to make it dairy-free? Use a butter substitute and a plant-based milk.
- 75g unsalted butter
- 1 cup caster sugar
- ½ cup cocoa
- 1 ½ cups plain flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
- For the sauce:
- ¾ cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 4 Tablespoons cocoa
- 2 ½ cups boiling water (or use 1 ½ cups boiling water, 1 cup freshly made coffee)
Heat the oven to 180C and lightly grease a large ovenproof dish.
Melt the butter in a large pot. Remove from the heat and add the sugar. Sift over the cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt, then stir in the milk and raspberries until well mixed. Scrape into the greased dish.
Sprinkle over the brown sugar and cocoa, then pour the boiling water over the top. Bake for 35 minutes, until the pudding has risen and feels springy to touch.
Let stand for five minutes before serving to allow the sauce to thicken. Serve with vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream (or both!). Leftovers can be eaten cold from the fridge or reheated in a low oven.
