The Cake Slice March 2012: Individual Warm Chocolate Puddings

The book describes these as ‘cakes’ but seeing as they are hot and wonderfully gooey inside I think ‘puddings’ is a much more appropriate title for them. These puddings are going to become my ultimate go-to chocolate pudding recipe. I’m not usually an overly chocolate pudding person, but these chocolate puddings have changed my mind, they are simply stunning.

I’m sure we have all enjoyed the delights of flourless chocolate cakes. The rich chocolate flavour, all moist and fudgy. Well now imagine that wonderful flourless cake, served warm straight from the oven, when the middle in still soft and gooey and the chocolate flavour is intense and powerful. Well, this is what you get with these puddings. Pure warm chocolate melty pleasure!

As they bake, they create an almost brownie like outer crust. Slightly chewy and crisp, with a soft and fudgy spongy layer just underneath the surface. When broken into, this reveals a soft, moussey, molten chocolate centre. No flour, no cocoa powder, no ground almonds, just pure chocolate!

The aroma as they bake is intoxicating. Warming chocolate really seems to enhance its indulgence and this time you are actually permitted to dive straight in with a spoon.

They took mere minutes to put together, used only a handful of ingredients and were naturally gluten free which thrilled me no end. The book states to make and bake these straight away, but I actually did a little experiment and found that they were perfectly happy to be chilled in the fridge for a few hours before baking, or even baked from frozen. I think the most important thing is to ensure they are eaten within minutes of baking, but I am sure this wouldn’t ever be a problem!

Next time you need a quick chocolate dessert to impress, I urge you to give these a go! Due to their soft gooeyness, they didn’t turn out perfectly, but I think this added to their soft molten middle anticipation. However, if you wanted to be dainty you could eat them straight out the moulds. Click here to see The Cake Slice blogroll

Individual Warm Chocolate Puddings
(Recipe from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle)

Ingredients
255g dark chocolate, around 60%
110g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
4 eggs
Pinch salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar

Method
If you intend to make, bake and eat these puddings straight away, then preheat the oven to 180C. If not going to eat straight away, then no need to do this yet.
Grease 6 dariole/little pudding moulds or deep ramekins with oil and then dust with caster sugar to coat.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and cut the butter into cubes. Place into a heatproof bowl, over a pan of gently simmering water and allow to melt, stirring only occasionally. Once smooth, remove from the heat and beat in half the sugar (50g), along with the 4 yolks from the eggs. Save the whites for later.
Place the 4 egg whites and the pinch of salt into a clean glass bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until foaming. Scatter over the cream of tartar and whisk until soft peaks form. With the mixer still going, gradually scatter over the remaining half of the sugar (50g), a tablespoon at a time. The egg whites should become stiff and glossy.
Using a large spoon or spatula, take a third of the egg white mixture and fold it into the chocolate to slacken it. Use big folding strokes, turning the bowl as you go.
Add the remaining egg white mixture in two batches, folding them in gently each time. Once fully incorporated stop.
Divide the chocolate mix evenly between the 6 moulds or ramekins.
You can now chose to bake them now, chill them in the fridge for later, or freeze them.

To bake now: place the puddings into the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
After chilling in the fridge: place the puddings in the oven, direct from the fridge and bake for 17 minutes.
From frozen: bake direct from frozen for 20 minutes.

After baking, allow the puddings to rest for 1 minute before running a sharp knife around the rim of the moulds and inverting out onto a plate. (I found mine collapsed when I did this, so you may want to eat them straight out the mould if you are trying to be dainty)
They will be all soft and gooey in the middle. Serve with cream if desired.
Makes 6