During my childhood this recipe was the go to that my best friend and I made for her rather large family. This was one of the joys we shared at dinner time.

While her stepmom would be cooking away we’d get to mix the cocoa, flour and other handful of ingredients together and make something we considered far more delicious then the main course itself.

As our lives drifted apart, this recipe remained a treasured memory of the childhood I had shared with a kindred spirit. I'm going to boldly say this is a recipe in the soul of New Zealand like the sea that surrounds this island nation. It's something most have tried and a true comfort when cold weather envelops. I’ve made it so often that I haven’t needed to consult the recipe for a long time.

As the house is now beginning to empty of possessions and time to leave is encroaching, I wanted to make this recipe one last time in the glass dish I have always made it in. From the first time I brought the recipe home, which I had written during food class while the teacher wasn’t watching, to today, the pudding and the dish combined are kind or perfection. This is my last time to make it in this house and possibly in this country. This is my way of saying adieu to the life that I’ve known and gotten used to.

Note: This is not a visual thing of beauty, however, two other senses in smell and taste will reward you for looking beyond the outward appearance.

Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding
Adapted from Edmond’s Cookbook

Ingredients:
Pudding
2 cups self raising flour
4 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
100g butter
1/2 cup superfine/caster sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Sauce
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup superfine/caster sugar
2 cups boiling water

Directions:
Grease a large baking dish and preheat the oven to 180°C/355F.

In a bowl sift the flour and cocoa powder. Rub the butter into the mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and combine.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the milk and essence. Mix well with a holed wooden spoon, you want to ensure the ingredients are well combined.

Pour the mixture into the greased tin and set aside while you make the sauce.


Place the cocoa powder and sugar in a heatproof bowl and add the boiling water, mix until you can no longer see the sugar granules. Hold a large metal spoon over the cake mixture and slowly pour the sauce evenly over the back of the spoon to guarantee the sauce is spread evenly over the cake.


Bake for 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when tested.


Serve warm with pouring or whipped cream or even ice cream.

Note: You want a quite a dark cocoa for this recipe as the chocolate flavor is that much better with a quality cocoa powder.


2 Comments

Amrita said...

Gorgeous! Self-saucing puddings are the easiest to get a serious hit of chocolate.

Sylvie said...

You are so right, great to hear you enjoyed it!

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