Description
A rich chocolate self-saucing pudding with a soft chocolate sponge and warm, gooey sauce underneath. An easy one-pot dessert that’s even better served warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Saucy topping
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 3/4 c brown sugar
- 1 c boiling water
Chocolate Sponge
- 60g unsalted butter
- 1 cup plain flour (all-purpose)
- 3/4c white sugar
- 1/3c Dutch cocoa
- 1 tsp bicarb soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt flakes
- 3/4c buttermilk
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F and lightly grease the inside of a 22cm enamel Dutch oven with a little butter.
- Make the cocoa and sugar topping for the sauce and set aside.
- Melt the butter and pop aside to cool for a few minutes.
- Make the chocolate pudding batter. Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl (flour, white sugar, Dutch cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, salt flakes) and give it a quick whisk to break up any lumps and bumps.
- In a measuring jug, combine the wet ingredients (buttermilk, vanilla extract and egg) and give it a quick mix.
- Add the melted butter, as well as the buttermilk mixture, to the dry ingredients and gently mix until everything is just combined and you have a smooth chocolate batter.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared Dutch oven and smooth the top.
- Sprinkle the sugar/cocoa mixture evenly over the top of the pudding batter.
- Gently pour the boiling water over the back of a spoon and onto the pudding, being sure to cover all the dry sugar mix. Don’t stir it! I know it looks a little strange at this point. You’ll have chocolate batter underneath and what looks like very watery chocolate sitting on top. That’s exactly how it should look.
- Pop the Dutch oven, uncovered, into the oven and bake for 30-35minutes, or until the chocolate sponge has risen, the surface looks set and the centre springs back lightly when touched.
- Leave the pudding to stand for 5–10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Do not overmix the batter! Just like a cake, too much mixing can leave you with a heavier sponge.
Don’t be tempted to keep baking until everything looks completely dry. Remember, there’s supposed to be a pool of chocolate sauce hiding underneath.
This recipe was cooked in a 22cm enamel cast iron Dutch oven.
Please note that all recipes on this website are in US measurements. Eg, 1 cup / 240ml, 1 tablespoon/15mls. Oven temperatures refer to a fan-forced oven.