Gooey Chocolate Puddings

At work tonight, we were (to use my brother’s charming turn of phrase) absolutely butt-raped. Our films (Munich & Walk the Line) were very busy, and it was a mad rush cleaning the cinemas from the previous sessions, getting the next round of customers in, taking their orders and seating them in the cinema. And to top it off, they all ordered HEAPS. I was in kitchen, and I was going nuts trying to make all food the orders, and get them delivered, hopefully timed to go with the bar’s drink orders. Basically we were all running around like mad chooks, orders were running late, customers were getting narky, and it was generally extremely stressful and sweaty work. I finished work half-an-hour late, and got home around 11:30, wanting nothing more than to scoff a bar of Lindt and go to bed.

However, the members of my family arrived home shortly after me, also having just finished work, and they all seemed energetic and up for a bit of sugar-therapy.

262. Gooey Chocolate Puddings (Fast Food)

This recipe only requires marginally more energy than opening a Lindt wrapper and has infinitely better payoff. Plus, all the ingredients were in my pantry, meaning I could knock off a recipe quite easily. I made this casually, while my family (plus my brother’s friend Eva) was sitting around the kitchen and all chatting.

Here’s an excerpt of a conversation we were having as we prepared the puddings.

Eva: Sarah, do you bake often?
Me: Well, I guess I try to cook a dessert whenever we’re all eating together.
Mum: Eva, do you like cooking?
Eva: Yeah, but I can’t make cakes… every time I make them they turn out flat!
Dad: Sarah can teach you to bake!
Daniel: Yes! She makes this AWESOME cherry pie.
Eva: Does that have cream cheese in it?
Daniel: Nah, it’s just cherries and pastry.
Mum: Oh yes, but what pastry! It’s the pastry that makes the pie, so flaky and good!

You know, I had no idea that my cherry pie had made such an impression. And it may sound like I’m tooting my own horn, but I think it’s ok, as the positive reaction to my pie is testament to Nigella’s fab recipes, especially her brilliant pastry-technique.

But back to the puddings. Unlike some of the recipes in the Fast Food chapter, which end up taking me much longer than the maximum 30 minutes Nigella says, this one actually only takes 20 minutes to make.

First off, melt butter and chocolate (Lindt 70% cocoa, blates), in a double boiler. In a separate bowl, lazily whisk together eggs, sugar and flour.


egg mix, choc mix

Then add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture. (I got my brother to stir as I poured… teamwork!)


dan stirring

Once it’s all mixed up, you pour the mixture into buttered and floured ramekins, and bake at 200C for 10-12 minutes. The recipe is supposed to feed 4, but as there were 5 of us eating, I just divided the mixture more scantily into 5 ramekins.



raw mix

They looked a bit shallow in the raw, but rose up satisfactorily during baking.


cooked mix

We didn’t have any cream, so we ate the puddings with crème fraîche. This was the perfect accompaniment, the crème fraîche’s tang undercutting the rich gooey chocolate deliciously.


gooey choc pudding

This went down extremely well. The edges and top of the puddings are firm and slightly crusty, which conceal an decadent liquid centre. Normally we’re not fans of the super-rich, chocolatey-to-the-max style of puddings and cakes, but this really, really hit the spot.

I can’t believe I baked individual chocolate puddings at 12:30 in the morning.