Hot Chocolate Fudge Pudding

• 2large eggs
• 150 gplain flour
• 150 mlmilk
• 160 gcaster sugar
• 60 gunsalted butter, melted
• 40 gcocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1 tspbaking powder
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• 200 mldouble cream
• 150 gdark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 50 ggolden syrup
• 1pinch fine salt
• Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Method

1. 1Heat the oven to 180°C fan (200°C conventional). Use a little of the measured melted butter to grease a 20cm square baking dish and set it on a tray; the sauce bubbles up the sides as it bakes and you don't want it on the oven floor.
2. 2Whisk the flour, cocoa, caster sugar, baking powder and a good pinch of fine salt in a large bowl until evenly combined and lump-free, with no streaks of cocoa visible. The salt is important here; it's what stops the cocoa tasting flat and lifts every note of the chocolate.
3. 3Beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla in a jug, then stir into the dry mix along with the remaining melted butter. You want a thick but pourable batter that falls slowly from the spoon in a ribbon; over-mix and the sponge tightens, so stop the moment it's smooth.
4. 4Scrape the batter into the prepared dish and smooth the top. Scatter the roughly chopped dark chocolate evenly across the surface so every spoonful gets a pocket of melted chocolate.
5. 5Warm the cream and golden syrup in a small pan over a low heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until just steaming and beginning to simmer at the edges; don't let it boil or the cream splits and the sauce goes greasy rather than glossy. Pour it evenly over the batter and chocolate. It will look alarming and soupy; that's exactly right. The liquid sinks as it bakes to form the glossy sauce underneath.
6. 6Bake for 28–32 minutes, until the sponge has risen and is set on top but still gives a little spring when pressed in the centre, and the sauce is bubbling thickly at the edges. A skewer pushed into the sponge should come away with a few moist crumbs; clean means you've gone too far and lost the molten layer.
7. 7Rest for 5 minutes so the sauce thickens to a glossy fudge; straight from the oven it's too thin, and any longer and it sets.
8. 8Spoon straight from the dish into warm bowls, digging deep so each portion gets sponge and the sauce underneath. Add the optional vanilla ice cream if using.

Per serving

kcal

662

protein

9.9g

fibre

5.6g

carbs

70.3g

fat

38.6g