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Baked chocolate pudding

Made with hazelnuts and cherries and a rich chocolate glaze

LINE

The reason for dredging the fruit and nuts is to ensure that it mixes well with the cake mixture and does not sink to the bottom. The cake baked in the bread tin makes it attractive, when sliced, for presentation purposes. Any shape tin may be used.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

The pudding:
100 g/3.5 oz self-raising flour 
½ teaspoon/3 ml baking powder 
a pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 
1 tablespoon/30 ml cocoa powder 
75 g/2.6 oz caster sugar 
1 extra large free-range egg, lightly whisked 
1 tablespoon/30 ml golden syrup (corn syrup) 
6½ tablespoons/100 ml milk 
6½ tablespoons/100  ml sunflower oil
½ cup/125 ml hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 cup/250 ml Marachino stoned cherries in syrup (available bottled in syrup), drained and cut in half 
flour for dredging the nuts and cherries

The glaze:
¼ cup/60 ml sugar syrup
½ cup/125 ml water
4 tablespoons/60 ml glucose syrup
3 tablespoons/45 ml cream
3 tablespoons/45 ml cocoa powder
1 tablespoon/15 ml Drambuie (optional)

The garnish:
12 Marachino stoned cherries with stalks (available at well-stocked supermarkets)

Preheat the oven to 150°C/302°F.
Grease a bread tin of approximately 28 x 13 cm/11 x 5 in.
Sieve all dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Mix the egg with the syrup, milk and oil and add to the dry ingredients. Mix well until smooth. Lightly dredge the hazelnuts and cherries with the flour and mix it into the batter. Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from the tin and let cool.

To serve:
For the glaze, heat the sugar syrup, water, glucose, cream and cocoa powder and bring to a boil. Stir until the sauce thickens, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool. When the pudding as well as the glaze have cooled totally, pour the glaze (reserving 4 tablespoons/60 ml) over the pudding. Decorate with the cherries and chocolate curls. 

Glucose is very sticky and an easy way to measure it is with either a heated spoon or a spoon dipped in oil. The glucose will simply slip off the spoon. Do the same with honey and corn syrup.

When ready to serve, cut the pudding in slices and put on a cooling rack with a plate underneath to catch the dripping glaze. Spoon the glaze over the piece of cake making sure that you cover it all over. Carefully lift the cake off the rack and place in the center of the serving plate. Decorate with the cherries.

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By STELLA

I have had no formal chef’s training. Classical piano was my parents’ choice, and that took care of the first 20 years of my life. Journalism and radio followed (my own choices, this time), and these opened many doors for me into different countries, people, cultures — and, of course, foods. In a six week series on radio I used it as a platform for my love of food and shared lots of interesting recipes and food news with listeners.
My earliest memories of food come from the family kitchen at home; I can still remember the wonderful smells of the dishes my mother prepared. I became aware of the flavors of her creations at an early age. Some I enjoyed and preferred, while others depressed me with their lack of interesting flavors. My mother was a good cook, but not a gourmet, and sadly this often showed. What I did appreciate was that she always involved me in the preparation, sharing her knowledge of nutrition, flavor, color, and the harmonies of each plate she dished up. She was also a genius with leftovers and quick meals when unexpected guests arrived. This is one of the things that stands out in my mind, and it inspired me to create wonderful dishes from leftover foods myself.

I carried on with the tradition of carefully planning meals to combine nutrition, color and flavor, while at the same time offering variety and elegant presentation. In the process, I developed a passion for seeking out the best available products, adhering to each season’s offerings, and treating it with the respect it deserves, which eventually became part of my daily culinary life and travels. I did these things not because I wanted to become a chef, but to satisfy myself, family and friends with creations of gorgeous food and exciting flavors. All of which, I hope, is reflected in this blog.

One reply on “Baked chocolate pudding”

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