When Rosie over at Rosie Bakes a 'Peace' of Cake posted about the apparent demise of the traditional British pudding, I simply knew I had to join her in her efforts to keep the joys of the humble British pud alive. She urged food bloggers to join her this month in baking a traditional chocolate sponge and posted a rather good recipe for us all to follow. This all seemed fine and I was excited about the challenge but then I remembered that I live on my own. Who was going to eat this enormous steamed pudding that serves 6 people?! Sure, I entertain a fair amount but by the time I got around to making the pudding it was too late to make plans to invite people over.
I decided to play with the recipe a little and make individual puddings. Making one would have been too tricky. After all you can hardly divide 2 eggs by 6, can you?! So I halved the recipe and made three different puddings. To one I added chopped milk chocolate, to one Green and Black's Maya Gold which has a hint of orange and to the final one, I added a Lindt d'Or chocolate truffle right in the centre. What on earth possessed me? Well, I once enjoyed a pudding that hid one of these chocolates, gently melting in the centre.
In terms of steaming the puds, I placed them in a roasting tray half filled with boiling water and cooked them in the oven at 170C for around 35 minutes. The results? The Lindt d'Or one was disastrous but delicious. The chocolate melted to form a gorgeous sauce in the middle of the pudding, but unfortunately the top of the pudding remained firmly in the pudding mould. It didn't look pretty!
The one flecked with Maya Gold was my favourite, although again it didn't turn out too beautifully. I served it with a very creamy orange ice cream which I made in five minutes flat. Equal amounts of single and double cream (1 tumbler glass of each), freshly squeezed orange juice (3 large oranges), a little grated orange rind (of one orange) and caster sugar to your taste (around 2 oz). Whisk together and pour into an ice-cream maker. Gorgeously fresh and delicious but very creamy - you only need a small amount and wouldn't want a whole bowlful.
The final pudding with the milk chocolate was adorned with chocolate sauce made with melted dark chocolate, single cream, golden syrup and a smidge of butter. Again, it didn't turn out too well, but it tasted divine.
For those concerned about my ever-expanding waistline (I know I am), fear not. I did not eat all three puddings (although it was tempting). I had a taster of each. The Maya Gold version was my favourite with a little chocolate sauce poured over the top for good measure!
To participate in the next 'edition' of The Great British Pudding Challenge, hop over to Maria's blog for a delicious-sounding recipe for a Festive Steamed Pudding with cranberries and white chocolate.
6 comments:
These remind me of those chocolate puddings on the current M&S ad!
Antonia, I'm a total sucker for citrus flavors so you had me at "orange ice cream". :)
The problem with gaining weight is the only bad thing about foodblogging. :)
Wow oh wow Antonia, your chocolate pudding looks so good, the choc sauce and ice cream must have been a gorgeous combination ;o)
Maria
x
Firstly thank you Antonia for joining in the challenge! I am bowled over with your magnificent chocolate puddings and orange ice cream. What a brilliant idea to add different chocolate to individual puddings and the combo of them sound mouth-watering to me being a complete chocoholic :) Well done and an excellent entry!!
Rosie x
Very interesting. I know nothing about traditional British puddings. These are like a moist steamed cake? Anyway, it looks absolutely decadent. I could certainly dig into that in a heartbeat.
Ginger - not quite as 'perfect' as the M&S ones, sadly. But they did taste good!
Patricia - Yes, you are right. It is the only bad thing about food blogging. That and the fact that my food is often cold as it sits around being photographed!
Maria - Mmm. It was a good combination. No chocolate puds left, but I do have some orange ice cream remaining.
Rosie - thank you! So glad I managed to get the entry in on time in the end. Thank you for the great recipe.
Greg - there lots of different tradtional puddings. It is really the word we use for desserts in general. But steamed puddings such as this are particularly associated with Britain - they are sponge-cake like but usually a little lighter and moister. You should give the recipe a try!
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