deep dark hot fudge pudding cake & walnut and raisin bread pudding
Two puddings today - a rich, dark chocolate one and a lovely light walnut and raisin bread one.
First, the bread pudding. I made this for a friend's birthday picnic, and it's the same recipe I used here, only I wised up and bought a good fruit and nut bread for the base of the pudding. It made a huge difference! The first time I made this I used normal white bread, which was nice enough but the overall taste was very simple and subtle. This time the fullbodied sweet bread really pushed up the flavour profile of the pudding. Why didn't I think of this sooner?! Also, instead of a blackberry sauce this time I used a sweet strawberry one which went very nicely with the pudding. The smell that wafts from the oven as this is baking.. ah.
This pudding doesn't come out very.. saucy, for lack of a better word. The bread soaks up all the custard due to the overnight 'marination', so I suppose if you want it more custardy you can bake it straight away. Or, use a vanilla cream sauce instead/alongside the fruit sauce. [Tip: putting chocolate chips in between the bread layers will give you a ridiculously amazing chocolate-cinnamon sauce.]
On to the chocolate pudding! My mother told me she had a craving for chocolate cake, so I decided to make this super-easy one-serve cake for her. It can be thrown together and in the oven under 15 minutes if you're organised with all your ingredients ready, which is a huge plus for anyone strapped for time or whoever doesn't like having to slave over something for hours with 3 million steps before it even goes into the oven. Recipe comes from Kitchen Treaty, and makes 6 servings. I halved the amounts and got two 4-inch cakes.
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup milk
⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1¼ cups hot water
3 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together ¾ cup of the granulated sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
3. Spread this batter mixture into an 8″ x 8″ baking pan.
4. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
5. In another medium bowl, stir together the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons cocoa, and brown sugar. Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the batter.
6. In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, stir together the espresso powder and the hot water. Carefully pour the hot water mixture over the top of the cake. Do not stir.
7. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the center is no longer jiggly.
This comes out like a lava cake - still wonderfully gooey in the middle. The coffee gives it a nicely rounded taste, elevating the chocolate. This is very rich, so I recommend following the advice of Kitchen Treaty and eating this with good vanilla ice cream. My mother loved it, so this is a pass!
Have a good day everyone <3
First, the bread pudding. I made this for a friend's birthday picnic, and it's the same recipe I used here, only I wised up and bought a good fruit and nut bread for the base of the pudding. It made a huge difference! The first time I made this I used normal white bread, which was nice enough but the overall taste was very simple and subtle. This time the fullbodied sweet bread really pushed up the flavour profile of the pudding. Why didn't I think of this sooner?! Also, instead of a blackberry sauce this time I used a sweet strawberry one which went very nicely with the pudding. The smell that wafts from the oven as this is baking.. ah.
This pudding doesn't come out very.. saucy, for lack of a better word. The bread soaks up all the custard due to the overnight 'marination', so I suppose if you want it more custardy you can bake it straight away. Or, use a vanilla cream sauce instead/alongside the fruit sauce. [Tip: putting chocolate chips in between the bread layers will give you a ridiculously amazing chocolate-cinnamon sauce.]
On to the chocolate pudding! My mother told me she had a craving for chocolate cake, so I decided to make this super-easy one-serve cake for her. It can be thrown together and in the oven under 15 minutes if you're organised with all your ingredients ready, which is a huge plus for anyone strapped for time or whoever doesn't like having to slave over something for hours with 3 million steps before it even goes into the oven. Recipe comes from Kitchen Treaty, and makes 6 servings. I halved the amounts and got two 4-inch cakes.
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup milk
⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1¼ cups hot water
3 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together ¾ cup of the granulated sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Whisk in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
3. Spread this batter mixture into an 8″ x 8″ baking pan.
4. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
5. In another medium bowl, stir together the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons cocoa, and brown sugar. Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the batter.
6. In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, stir together the espresso powder and the hot water. Carefully pour the hot water mixture over the top of the cake. Do not stir.
7. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the center is no longer jiggly.
This comes out like a lava cake - still wonderfully gooey in the middle. The coffee gives it a nicely rounded taste, elevating the chocolate. This is very rich, so I recommend following the advice of Kitchen Treaty and eating this with good vanilla ice cream. My mother loved it, so this is a pass!
Have a good day everyone <3