Melting Chocolate Pudding

"Divine is the only word to describe this recipe, originally from the Morston Hall Hotel in Norfolk, England and since used by Delia Smith. Just imagine mini-chocolate cakes, drizzled with whipped cream, that have a melted-fudge chocolate sauce inside. It's not the easiest of recipes, but worth the effort."
 
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Ready In:
45mins
Ingredients:
9
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Note: You will also need 8 mini pudding basins, each with a capacity of 6 fl oz or 175 ml, generously brushed with melted butter.
  • Place the broken-up chocolate, along with the butter and brandy, in a large heatproof bowl, which should be sitting over a saucepan of barely simmering water.
  • Make sure the bowl does not touch the water.
  • Keeping the heat at its lowest, allow the chocolate and butter to melt slowly.
  • This should take 6-7 minutes.
  • Remove it from the heat and give it a good stir until it is smooth and glossy.
  • While the chocolate is melting, place the sugar, whole eggs, yolks and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.
  • Whisk on high speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture has doubled in volume, about 5-10 minutes, depending on the power of your whisk.
  • You need to end up with a thick, mousse-like mixture that, when you stop the motor and lift the whisk, leaves a trail like a piece of ribbon.
  • Now you need to pour the melted chocolate mixture around the edge of the bowl (it is easier to fold it in from the edges) and then sift the flour over the mixture.
  • Using a large metal spoon, carefully but thoroughly fold everything together.
  • Be patient here as careful folding and cutting movements are needed.
  • This will take 3-4 minutes.
  • Now divide the mixture between the pudding basins (it should come to just below the top of each one) and line them up on a baking tray.
  • If you like, the puddings can now be covered with clingfilm and kept in the fridge or freezer until you need them.
  • When you are ready to bake the puddings, pre-heat the oven to 200C or 400F.
  • Remove the clingfilm and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 14 minutes if they have been chilled first, but only 12 if not; after that time the puddings should have risen and feel fairly firm to the touch, although the insides will still be melting.
  • Leave to stand for 1 minute before sliding a palette knife around each pudding and turning out on to individual serving plates.
  • If you are cooking these puddings from frozen, give them about 15 minutes cooking time and allow them to stand for 2 minutes before turning out.
  • Serve straight away, with some chilled cream to pour over.

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Reviews

  1. As others have already said, this is truly a chocoholics dream come true! The only trouble was the timing, my first attempt I tried the top and it seemed fairly soft so I put it in for the full 14 minutes, mistake, the outside sponge was rather dry and the inside solid. After a further two attempts I finally got it right, at eight or nine minutes. This might be reflected in the fact that my oven is a fan assisted one. So my advice is before serving this at a dinner party experiment with the timings! But once you've got it right it's fabulous.
     
  2. This is fantastic! I was going to post this myself as I just made it 2 weeks ago from Dehia's cookbook. I followed the recipe exactly. My chocoholic DH absolutely loved it! I still have 2 in the freezer for when he gets his next chocci attack as it only takes 15-20 minutes from freezer to plate.
     
  3. I had Dh stand and mix the eggs and sugar for 10 minutes, so this recipe was quite easy, and I used the microwave to melt the chocolate, so that only took 1 minute. All the times mentioned were right on EXCEPT the baking time. I should have checked on the puddings at 6 minutes, but I didn't. BIG mistake. Next time I will. They were greatly overcooked at 12 minutes, but I'm giving them 5 stars anyway. I am positive they're going to be perfect when baked less. I was looking forward to that melted-fudge chocolate sauce center but, sadly, there wasn't any. Possibly the problem is in the conversion of 200°C to farenheit. It's actually 392° so the extra heat might make the difference when such a short baking time is involved. I also did not turn them out onto serving plates after 1 minute, so they probably continued to bake in the cups. Don't do that unless you've accounted for it in the baking time. The richness of these little gems made with egg yolks is so much more decadent than similar desserts made light with egg white meringue. These are WONDERFUL, just don't overbake them.
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

This is a picture of me and my husband in Portugal, climbing up above the clouds with our bikes. Right now we are travelling around the world on our bicycles, so I only pop onto Zaar occasionally, when internet connections and time allow me to. If I don't reply to a message about one of my recipes, now you know why! Our trip may take several years so if it's urgent, it's probably better for you to post in the forums ;) Good food is really important to me -- I am happy to pay extra for food that I feel is produced in a sustainable and ethical way and always try to eat using seasonal produce. When we were in the UK we rarely shopped at supermarkets, trying instead to favour small producers, although we were very lucky in that we lived in London and there was lots of choice. We also were fortunate enough to have a weekly organic veg box delivered to our door, filled with so many lovely vegetables for very little money. It really opened my horizons in terms of the variety of vegetables I eat. If you're in the UK, check out Riverford for a box supplier as they're amazing! When I'm not eating I love to take pictures and travel with my husband. <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/World%20Tour/ZWT2.gif">
 
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