Self -saucing chocolate puddings

For someone who isn't a choco-holic I sure make a lot of chocolate desserts, I think it's because you can count on chocolate desserts to taste nice and be fulfilling.

This is another recipe from Simple Essentials: Chocolate by Donna Hay, I've made a fair few recipes from this book and they're yet to disappoint. Donna Hay is wonderful because, on the whole, you can count on the recipes to be nice. They're fairly basic and not always utterly amazing but on the whole they're just plain nice. Nice is good.

This recipe is no exception to the niceness of Donna Hay. As usual I've made a few alterations; I halved the original recipe, added more sauce, and changed the baking dishes entirely. I also used rice malt rather than malted milk powder; it's cheaper. The sauce did overflow a bit, so be sure to place the ramekins on a baking tray.

Self saucing pudding is one of my favourite dishes. it's very homely and this one is no exception. There's a nice mix of textures in it, partly helped by the small ramekins. The top is quite crunchy, the centre cake-y, and the bottom is super saucy. Delicious.

Self -saucing chocolate puddings

(adapted from Simple Essentials: Chocolate by Donna Hay)
makes four 250ml ramekins

65g butter
138g granulated sugar
1 egg
128g plain flour
1 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
30g cocoa powder
1/4 cup almond meal
3 teaspoons rice malt
1/2 cup milk

sauce

45g brown sugar
1 tablespoon rice malt
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup water, freshly boiled

Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F), grease four 250ml deep ramekins.

Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until pale. Add the egg and beat until smooth.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder over the butter mixture. Add the almond meal, rice malt, and milk. Beat until smooth. Spoon the pudding mixture into four ramekins.

To make the sauce, place the sugar, malt, and cocoa into a bowl, pour over the boiling water and stir to combine. Spoon over the pudding mixture Bake for 25-30 minutes or until well risen and cooked when tested if a skewer. Serve immediately.