Saturday, June 25, 2011

Chocolate Pudding Cake

Once a month I like to post a recipe that fits the criteria of easy to make and great to eat. It’s been raining here for a week – we had two fabulous, bright, sunny days with temperatures in the mid-20 degree Celsius range before the clouds rolled back in and I was forced to don a long-sleeved sweater and huddle over a steaming cup of tea while I shivered at my desk. I needed comfort food and my mind wandered back to my childhood and my mother’s dessert we referred to as “Chocolate Pudding Cake”.  It’s a fairly dense chocolate cake baked in a rich chocolate sauce. Served warm it had my taste buds quivering in anticipation of the first bite, and the second, and the third and...well you get the picture.

I dove into the recipe cupboard and rummaged through the sizable collection until I unearthed the familiar paper booklet; torn and stained from years of use. The original recipe was actually called “Chocolate Sundae Pudding” but Mom altered the recipe here and there. Her pen notations blocked out some of the original printing and as a child I added my own handiwork by scribbling orange wax crayon over the entire page. Ah, the heartwarming, tasty memories of childhood!

I made this last night. After a feed of nachos for dinner (yet another comfort food) I closed my eyes and paused to inhale the delectable chocolate aroma as I raised the spoon to my lips. Some things just aren’t as good as an adult as you remember them being as a child, but the chocolate pudding cake didn’t disappoint. It lived up to all my chocolaty expectations! Just before I sat down to write this I had another bowl full. Now it’s chilled in the fridge but I’ll let you in on a little secret...if you scoop it out cold and pour some milk over it, it’s just as good as the first day when it was warm. Granted the milk makes it kind of mushy so if you’re not that brave, pop it in the microwave and viola, just like the day it was baked!

Enough teasing your taste buds! Here’s the altered version of the recipe the way Mom used to make it. This is a must try!

Chocolate Sauce
Combine the following ingredients in a microwave and oven safe casserole dish:
3 tbsp. butter
¾ cup sugar
3 tbsp. cocoa (sifted)
½ tsp. salt
2 cups water
Put in microwave until butter is melted. Mix with a whisk to remove any cocoa lumps.

Cake Batter
Beat ¼ cup butter, add ¾ cup white sugar and an egg – beat until smooth
Add:
1 1/3 cup flour
¼ cup cocoa (sifted)
3 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¾ cup milk
Beat until smooth

Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the chocolate sauce (use a large spoon for this). Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes.
It’s great served warm just the way it is or with ice cream, whipped cream or milk – be creative and enjoy!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heaven! I think it must taste better when it's made from the original recipe book, though. Mine's written on a plain old 3x5 card, and it just doesn't have the same character. :-)

Carol Henders said...

Ya, I'm not quite sure how I managed to snag all the good recipe books. This one was a little challenging to figure out what the real recipe was though!

Charissa Steyn said...

This sounds UH-MAZING!!! Writing this one down ;) I think warm chocolate with vanilla ice cream is the most beautiful combination!

Carol Henders said...

I agree, vanilla ice cream is definitely a classic. I happened to have some cherry blossom ice cream in the freezer this weekend and it was a nice touch with the chocolate, too. Enjoy!