Chocolate Espresso Gooey Puddings

Well we are completely iced in now. We smashed a bit of ice in the canal and it was around half an inch thick. P did a morning shift today so was out the house by 6AM. At around 930AM it was still minus 2 and temperature all day today hasn't been any more than 0!

I think tonight will definately be a lot colder and the forecast for the next few days shows snow all day on Friday along with heavy winds and temperatures being minus 12 overnight on Sunday! So the next few days should be really interesting!





And finally, along with some not so great pictures, here is the recipe for my "Goo" Puds:

Chocolate Espresso Goo Puds

A great, easy to make, quick pudding. Brilliant for in the week after work, but equally as good for a dinner party as they can be made in advance.

There's nothing original about this type of pudding, but using a flavoured chocolate does give it a new twist as does adding in some ground almonds in place of flour that some other recipes use.

I use a coffee flavoured chocolate in mine, but have previously used mint, orange etc.

Just make sure its a 'flavoured' chocolate and not anything that has a fondant cream in and definately nothing that has 'pieces' of something in as all those pieces will sink to the bottom of the pudding and spoil it. Green & Blacks has a good range of flavoured chocolates.

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients:

* 50g of dark Green and Blacks "Espresso" flavoured chocolate
* 50g butter
* 60g of sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 tbsp of ground almonds
* a good splash of brandy (not necessary, but optional)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to Gas 6. Grease two individual ramekins or teacups that you will use to cook your little goo puds in. Also sprinkle a few extra ground almonds onto the greased ramekin/teacup.

2. Put your chocolate and butter ( and a dash of brandy if using!) into a jug and place the jug in a pan of simmering water , so the two melt together. Once melted leave the chocolate mixture to cool slightly




3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the sugar and the tablespoon of ground almonds.




4. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled slightly, add it into the egg mixture and combine the two. It will stiffen slightly once you combine the two and that's normal




5. Pour or spoon the mixture into your ramekins or teacups. I used teacups as I broke all the ramekins last week with a mishap involving the kitchen sink!!



6. Put the pots in the oven for around 10-15 minutes, until the top looks set, slightly puffed up and cracked but you can still see a wobble underneath if you shake them slightly.

7. You can serve them in the ramekins or cups or run a knife around the edge and turn them out onto a plate.

Serve with cream, ice cream, custard...whatever you fancy!

Here's a close-up!




;)