Chocolate and Walnut Self-saucing Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce
A dinner party dessert recipe that's designed to wow your friends – no need to tell them how easy it is to make…
Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS
50 grams melted butter, plus extra butter for greasing
1 cup whole milk
2 large eggs, size 7
1¼ cups self-raising flour
3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup ground walnuts
½ cup brown sugar
TOPPING
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
1¼ cups boiling water
2 tablespoons whisky
TO SERVE
Vanilla bean ice cream or softly whipped cream
Chopped toasted walnuts
Salted Caramel Sauce (see recipe below)
METHOD
You will need a 2-litre capacity baking dish or 6 individual 350ml-capacity baking dishes, greased with butter.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Put the melted butter, milk and eggs into a jug and whisk to combine. Sieve the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a large bowl and add the walnuts and brown sugar. Mix well to combine. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the butter mixture. Fold together until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dishes.
TOPPING: Put the brown sugar and cocoa powder in a jug. Add the boiling water and whisky; whisk to combine. Gently pour the mixture onto the batter over the back of a large tablespoon.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or 20-25 minutes for individual puddings, until the pudding has risen and is cooked through. Leave to rest for 5 minutes.
TO SERVE: Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream or softly whipped cream and sprinkle with walnuts.
Salted Caramel Sauce
1½ cups caster sugar
1¼ cups cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 heaped teaspoon sea salt
Place the caster sugar in a clean saucepan with ⅓ cup water and whisk to combine. Bring to a simmer, whisking to dissolve the sugar, then stop stirring.
In a second saucepan, heat the cream until just hot, not boiling. You could also do this in the microwave.
Continue heating the sugar mixture, using a small pastry brush to brush down any excess sugar from the sides of the pot, until the sugar first becomes white and crystallised, then starts to turn a light amber. To combine the sugar and encourage even caramelisation, give the pot a gentle swirl.
As soon as it is an even light golden colour, remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the hot cream, ¼ cup at a time. It will froth up madly, but keep whisking and it will settle down. Add the butter and sea salt and whisk until smooth. Pour into a clean jar and store in the fridge until ready to use. Reheat by microwaving briefly or in a saucepan on the stovetop. MAKES ABOUT 1½ CUPS
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latest issue:
126
We start by sharing what’s on the dish team’s radar, what we’re watching, listening to and reading. Harry Butterfield puts a twist on his Nonna’s agnolotti, Malissa Fedele reminds us of the importance of fibre, and Phoebe Holden fulfils a long-held dream, sitting down with Yotam Ottolenghi. Autumn is an abundant time, we make the most with pumpkin, kūmara, cabbage, cauliflower, feijoas, apples and pears. We’re dishing up dinners for two, including a Chicken Dumpling Lasagne, alongside easy weeknight meals. We honour our mums, revisit timeless classics, and add a little baking challenge. This issue, we encourage you to slow down, to enjoy writing your shopping list, and spending time in the kitchen. Because even when life feels relentless, there’s always space to share something delicious.