chocolate puddings

A gooey prepare-ahead dessert that's perfect for entertaining - it's all a matter of timing...

Chocolate fondant

melted butter,for brushing

cocoa powder,for dusting

good-quality dark chocolate,chopped into small pieces

butter,in small pieces

golden caster sugar

eggsand 4 yolks

plain flour

Caramel sauce (see 'Goes well with') and vanillaice cream

First get your moulds ready. Using upward strokes, heavily brush melted butter (use 50g in total) all over the inside of the pudding mould. Place the mould in the fridge or freezer. Brush more melted butter over the chilled butter, then add a good spoonful of cocoa powder into the mould. Tip the mould so the powder completely coats the butter. Tap any excess cocoa back into the jar, then repeat with the next mould.

Place a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, then slowly melt 200g good-quality dark chocolate and 200g butter, both chopped into small pieces, together. Remove the bowl from the heat and stir until smooth. Leave to cool for about 10 mins.

In a separate bowl <a href="https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/top-five-whisks">whisk</a> 4 eggs and 4 egg yolks together with 200g golden caster sugar until thick and pale and the whisk leaves a trail; use an electric whisk if you want. Sift 200g plain flour into the eggs, then beat together.

Pour the melted chocolate into the egg mixture in thirds, beating well between each addition, until all the chocolate is added and the mixture is completely combined to a loose cake batter.

Tip the fondant batter into a jug, then evenly divide between the moulds. The fondants can now be frozen for up to a month and cooked from frozen. Chill for at least 20 mins or up to the night before. To bake from frozen, simply carry on as stated, adding 5 mins more to the cooking time.

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Place the fondants on a baking tray, then cook for 10-12 mins until the tops have formed a crust and they are starting to come away from the sides of their moulds. Remove from the oven, then leave to sit for 1 min before turning out.

Loosen the fondants by moving the tops very gently so they come away from the sides, easing them out of the moulds. Tip each fondant slightly onto your hand so you know it has come away, then tip back into the mould ready to plate up.

Starting from the middle of each plate, squeeze a spiral of caramel sauce – do all the plates you need before you go on to the next stage.

Sit a fondant in the middle of each plate. Using a large spoon dipped in hot water, scoop a ‘quenelle’ of ice cream.

Carefully place the ice cream on top of the fondant, then serve immediately. Repeat with the rest of the fondants.

This super-simple Italian dessert actually benefits from being made ahead, allowing all the lovely flavours to mingle

Best ever tiramisu

pot double cream

tub mascarpone

milliliters marsala

tbsp golden caster sugar

milliliters

pack sponge fingers

dark chocolate

cocoa powder

Put the double cream, mascarpone, marsala and golden caster sugar in a large <a href="https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/test-best-rolling-pins">bowl</a>.

<a href="https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/top-five-whisks">Whisk</a> until the cream and mascarpone have completely combined and have the consistency of thickly whipped cream.

Pour the coffee into a shallow dish. Dip in a few of the sponge fingers at a time, turning for a few seconds until they are nicely soaked, but not soggy. Layer these in a dish until you’ve used half the sponge fingers, then spread over half of the creamy mixture.

Using the coarse side of the <a href="https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/top-graters">grater</a>, grate over most of the dark chocolate. Then repeat the layers (you should use up all the coffee), finishing with the creamy layer.

Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Will keep in the fridge for up to two days.

To serve, dust with the cocoa powder and grate over the remainder of the chocolate.

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Chocolate fondant

Best ever tiramisu

Top 2 chocolate puddings recipes from across the web

The most viewed chocolate puddings recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Chocolate fondant

Best ever tiramisu

The most viewed chocolate puddings recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine