Gooey hot chocolate pudding

Tamara West

This is one of the recipes that started my teenage sons on their personal cooking adventures. It is “forgiving” in the sense that it is quick to assemble and does not seem to matter if the quantities are not precisely measured—many times we have made this at our farm with no scales or food processor—measuring and mixing by hand. Use this recipe to build kids’ cooking skills and confidence, dietitians may disagree, but it is far easier to get kids to cook something that they will really enjoy eating.

The pudding is moist in the bottom from the chocolate sauce, which is poured on to the batter. I like to make it in individual ramekins as the pudding is easier to present and more democratic as every one gets a fair share. The size of the baking dish will influence how long it takes to bake. As in so many cases the best test is to insert a skewer in the top of the pudding to see if it pulls out cleanly.

Ingredients

100 g	Butter
100 g	Caster sugar
4	Eggs
125 g	Flour
2 Tbsp	Milk
1 Tbsp	Baking powder
2 Tbsp	Cocoa powder, dark (Main)

Sauce

250 ml	Water
100 g	Soft brown sugar
2 Tbsp	Cocoa powder

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 180degC.
2. Butter 6-8 ramekins or an oven-proof baking dish.
3. Blend the butter and sugar in a food processor until it is soft and creamy.
4. Blend in the eggs and milk.
5. Sift in the flour, baking powder and cocoa and blend until just combined.
6. Pour this batter into your prepared dish or ramekins.
7. In a separate bowl, mix all the sauce ingredients together until dissolved.
8. Pour the sauce over the batter.
9. Bake in the oven for 30-40minutes. When the pudding is firm on top but still wobbles a little, it is cooked.
10. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve immediately with fruit, cream, ice cream or yoghurt.