This recipe for Gluten Free Chocolate Puddings is based on a Sophie Grigson recipe I saw many years ago on one of her cooking shows. I have always kept it at hand as it makes dinner party entertaining so much easier. Instead of having to leave your guests to go whip up a hot chocolate dessert you can pre-make the batter and freeze the individual puddings until you are ready to bake and serve them as dessert. Which means you could make the pudding a few days in advance already. (I also love the idea of having a few puddings stashed in the freezer to answer to some late night chocolate craving).
I think you could use any of the dark chocolate flavours but for me chocolate always need two other flavours ie coffee and vanilla which I have added to the recipe so keep that in mind when choosing a chocolate flavour to make the pudding.
These need to be served immediately and as much as I won’t really call them soufflés they are light, do rise up and slowly start collapsing once you have removed them from the oven. So my suggestion would be to place them in a pretty ovenproof dish so you can take all the puddings to the table in one go. I think some sort of berry is a must to cut the richness. Frozen berries will work in winter when fresh ones are not around.
If you really want to amp up the coffee flavour and the decadence of it all, serve a coffee liquor with the pudding to spoon over as you eat it. Delicious!
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp double cream
- 2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 2 tsp boiling water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 90g caster sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 6 egg whites
- pinch of salt
- icing sugar, for dusting
- To prepare the ramekins
- soft butter
- caster sugar
Instructions
- Butter 6 small ovenproof ramekins, each large enough to take 200-300ml and dust with caster sugar.
- Put the coffee powder and boiling water in a small bowl and mix until dissolved.
- Pour into a large saucepan (large enough to take the chocolate) with the vanilla extract and cream and bring up to the boil.
- Add the chocolate, remove from the heat and keep stirring until the chocolate has melted.
- Stir in the sugar and add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Whisk the egg whites with the salt until stiff and fold one large metal serving spoon of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
- Mix until the egg white is incorporated into the chocolate.
- Fold in the rest of the egg whites, taking care not to beat out too much air.
- Pour into the prepared ramekin dishes, cover with cling film and place in the freezer until ready to bake.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen.
- Dust with icing sugar (optional) and serve immediately with fresh raspberries and the rest of the double cream if desired.
- Adapted from Sophie Grigson
This is another recipe that I have developed for My Collections with products available on the site. My Collections is a treasure-trove of the best food, adventures and stories that the world has to offer. It’s the flavour of the unknown – an online wandering goods market of unique tastes, sensations and new adventures. Go have a look!
AntoniaJames
Feb 13, 2015
Such enticing, almost magical images. And your clear, precise writing makes it a joy to read. Thank you! I have just printed this; I so appreciate your formatting it for printing in such an elegant and efficient way. Typically, I copy/paste and re-format, to create a written document with which I’ll enjoy working. This is simply perfect, as is. Kind regards, AntoniaJames
hein
Feb 13, 2015
Dear AntoniaJames. Thank you so much for your kind words – I appreciate it so much. And happy to hear the printing of the recipe card works well! Hope the Lemon Meringue is a total show stopper tomorrow!
Helen
Apr 13, 2016
Wow this is the best, what a way to impress guests with this desert. Great that you can add your own imagination to the finishing touches. They freeze amazing and I have made them several times. I added a dab of cream ,
blueberries and chocolate coffee beans on the plate, but you can add anything. Highly recommend this recipe to everyone.
heinstirred
Apr 13, 2016
Love your garnish Helen. I made something similar for another shoot the other day and we poured some liqueur over the puddings as they came out – just delicious!