Making Delia Smith melting chocolate puddings means whisking dark chocolate, butter, eggs and flour into a light mixture with a molten middle. You bake the 8 little puddings at 200°C for just 12 minutes, then turn them out while the centres are still runny. They take about 50 minutes from start to finish, or you can fill the basins early and bake them later.
Galton Blackiston and his team at Morston Hall in Norfolk gave Delia this recipe. She printed it in the second How to Cook book (1999), expecting it to become one of the great chocolate puddings of the new century. That version is still the one on her website today, too.
Because the filled basins can sit in the fridge or the freezer until needed, these puddings suit a dinner party. You only need to slide them into a hot oven while the main course is cleared away.
The Chocolate collection (2003) prints them again with the same amounts. There the filled basins always go into the fridge for at least 1½ hours, and up to 8, before a 12-minute bake.
Delia Smith Melt in the Middle Chocolate Puddings
Little whisked chocolate puddings with brandy, baked hot and fast so the centres stay molten under a just-set crust.
8
servings10
minutes40
minutes480
kcalIngredients
- For the puddings:
200g (7oz) dark chocolate, 75% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
200g (7oz) butter, diced, plus extra melted butter for the basins
2 tablespoons brandy
110g (4oz) golden caster sugar
4 large eggs, plus 4 large egg yolks
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
60g (2½oz) plain flour
- To serve:
a little pouring or whipped cream
Directions
- Basins: Brush eight 175ml mini pudding basins generously with melted butter and set them on a baking tray.
- Melt: Put the chocolate, butter and brandy in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, with the bowl clear of the water. Melt them on the lowest heat for 6 to 7 minutes, then stir until smooth and glossy.
- Whisk: Meanwhile, whisk the sugar, eggs, yolks and vanilla on high speed with an electric hand whisk for 5 to 10 minutes, until doubled in volume.
- Fold: Pour the chocolate round the edge of the bowl and sift the flour over. Fold everything together gently with a large metal spoon for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Fill: Divide the mixture between the basins, filling each one to just below the top. Cover them with clingfilm if they are to wait in the fridge or freezer.
- Bake: Heat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas mark 6. Bake on the centre shelf for 12 minutes, or 14 if they were chilled, until risen and fairly firm on the outside.
- Serve: Leave them for 1 minute, run a palette knife round each one and turn them out onto plates. Serve straight away with chilled cream.
Notes
- From frozen, bake them for about 15 minutes and let them stand for 2 minutes before turning them out.
- A tea towel under the mixing bowl stops it sliding about while you whisk.
FAQs
Which chocolate should I use?
Use a dark chocolate with 75% cocoa solids, as her 1999 recipe and her website do. Her Chocolate collection (2003) allows 70 to 75%, so anything in that range works well.
A sweeter, milder chocolate would make the puddings too sweet and less rich, which is my own view. Her chocolate bread & butter pudding uses the same 75% chocolate.
How do I know the eggs are whisked enough?
The mixture should look thick and pale like a mousse, at roughly twice its first size. Lift the whisk out, and if it leaves a trail on the surface like a ribbon, it is ready.
That air is what keeps the puddings light, so fold in the chocolate and flour slowly and carefully.
What size basins do I need?
You need 8 mini pudding basins of 175ml each, brushed generously with melted butter so the puddings turn out cleanly. Her 2003 printing uses non-stick basins.
The same size suits her individual syrup sponge pudding as well, so one set of basins does for both.
What if the middle has set?
As the puddings cool, the chocolate inside keeps setting, so timing matters if you want a runny middle. Delia’s answer for set ones is to serve them cold as a fudgy chocolate cake with whipped cream.
For runny centres next time, take them out as soon as the tops have risen and the sides feel set. Then turn them out after just a minute.
Are the eggs cooked?
Not fully, because the middle stays molten. Her 1999 book notes that the recipe contains partially cooked eggs.
If you are cooking for anyone who should avoid lightly cooked eggs, check the current UK food safety advice first, which is my own suggestion.
