"'How're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?' asked Fred as they dug into a sumptuous chocolate pudding" (Prisoner of Azkaban 63).
Lucky for us, there is a recipe for a British-style chocolate pudding in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. Ms. Bucholz also includes a recipe for American-style pudding, but I wouldn't generally describe something whose equivalent can come in plastic Jell-O cups as "sumptuous." Today we shall make a Sumptuous Chocolate Pudding!
You Will Need:
1 stick unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, a good choice in my opinion)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup whole milk
1. (Generously) Grease and flour a 1.5 quart pudding bowl or a heatproof glass or ceramic bowl with a tight-fitting lid (grease and flour the lid too). Casserole dishes work well too. Place some kind of trivet (overturned shallow bowl, jam jar lid, etc.) inside a large pot with a lid. Be sure the pudding dish fits inside it... I forgot which dish I usually use to make steamed puddings and started out with one that was too big. Lame.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool.
3. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
4. In yet another bowl, whisk together the sugar, vanilla, eggs, and milk until smooth.
5. Whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until smooth.
6. Add in the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until combined.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pudding dish. Cover the bowl with the lid, making sure it is secure. Note that in this photo, I obviously didn't realize yet that my pudding dish was too big. Your dish should be much more full.
8. Place the pudding dish inside the pot, on top of the trivet. Add water until it reaches halfway up the side of the pudding bowl. Place the top on the pot and boil for 3 hours, checking the water level occasionally and adding more water if necessary.
9. Remove the pudding from the pot (carefully!) and uncover. Let it cool for 30 minutes (oops, I didn't do that). Then turn it upside down on your serving plate to un-mold it. Serve warm with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Holy sumptuousness, Batman! This pudding literally melts in your mouth! Delicious and decadent, rich but not overpowering. So tasty. So so tasty. I highly suggest you make some for yourself (especially if you are celebrating your last night at the Leaky Cauldron before heading off to another year at Hogwarts!). Enjoy!
Hi, I just stumbled across your blog and I'm loving it!! I too am a HP fan and love to cook. I have noticed that at least a couple of times you have used this water bath/steaming method to bake things, which I'm unfamiliar with (apart from dishes in small ramekins). Is this a traditional way of baking in the UK? Also, does this chocolate pudding come out any differently than an American chocolate cake? In the pictures it looks fairly similar, albeit more moist perhaps. Thanks for the help!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to In the Kitchen with Harry Potter! Steaming an English pudding is the traditional method of cooking one. As far as I know, it is used partly because a pudding is so deep (usually at least a couple, if not several, inches deeper than a cake layer would be) that if it were baked, the outside would burn before the middle was cooked. I do know that during Dickensian times, housewives took advantage of the long cooking time and would set the Christmas pudding for supper to steam in the laundry vat before the family left for church in the morning, and by the time they were ready for dessert in the afternoon, it was ready. And yes, you are correct, I have found that a steamed pudding is infinitely more moist than a baked cake. The chocolate pudding in this entry was so moist that it practically fell apart once out of its steaming dish. Also, this pudding is SO chocolately that I would compare it more to a French chocolate cake than an American one.
ReplyDeleteI hope that helps, thanks for reading!