A very saucy, very chocolatey time with Karen Martini's classic self-saucing chocolate pudding.

My mother often cooked this dessert in the colder months, though the credit for this version goes to my sister, Odette. I have added the salt flakes, as I love a bit of a savoury touch.

Ingredients

  • 160 g (5½ oz) self-raising (self-rising) flour
  • 120 g (4½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
  • 2 teaspoons unsweetened (Dutch) cocoa powder, plus an extra 1½ tablespoons for the topping
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 150 ml (5 fl oz) full-cream (whole) milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate (56% cocoa or higher)
  • 20 g (¾ oz) unsalted butter
  • 250 g (9 oz) soft brown sugar
  • 350 ml (12 fl oz) boiling water
  • 1½ teaspoons salt flakes
  • icing (confectioners’) sugar, for dusting
  • vanilla ice cream, to serve

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F).
  2. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a bowl.
  3. In another bowl, beat the milk, egg and egg yolk with a fork until combined.
  4. Add the chocolate and butter to a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water for about 5 minutes, ensuring the bowl doesn’t touch the water. When two-thirds of the chocolate has melted, stir through twice. Remove the bowl to finish melting the chocolate in the residual heat.
  5. Once the chocolate has fully melted, fold in the egg mixture to combine, then follow with the flour mixture to make a pourable batter.
  6. Tip the mixture into an ovenproof dish, measuring about 20 × 28 cm (8 × 11 in), with sides at least 5 cm (2 in) high. Smooth flat with a spatula.
  7. For the topping, combine the sugar and cocoa powder, then sprinkle evenly over the batter. Pour the boiling water over in a zig-zag pattern, then sprinkle with the salt.
  8. Bake for about 35 minutes, until the pudding resembles a chocolate brownie, with a slight bubbling of sauce at the side.
  9. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm, straight from the dish at the table, with ice cream.

Cook Sweet by Karen Martini

This is an edited extract from Cook: Sweet by Karen Martini published by Hardie Grant Books. Photography: © Armelle Habib. Available in stores now including at great independent retailers such as Readings and Hill of Content.