Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding is a very popular dessert in Australia. This is an old classic recipe I wrote down in my recipe book decades ago. It requires a scary amount of Sugar. You can reduce the amount slightly. I have once halved the amount, but the pudding was not very tasty. You need a reasonable amount of Sugar for this dessert.

Makes

6 Servings

Ingredients

1 cup Self-Raising Flour
1/2 teaspoon Bi-carb Soda *optional
2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder
1/2 cup Brown Sugar *OR Caster Sugar
1 pinch Salt
1 Egg
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
60g Butter *melted
Thickened Cream to serve

Sauce
1 cup Brown Sugar *OR Caster Sugar, can be reduced to 3/4 cup
2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder *OR 4 tablespoons for stronger flavour
1 & 1/2 cups Boiling Water
*Note: You can add 1 tablespoon Instant Coffee Granules to the Boiling Water
*Note: If your baking dish is smaller than 2L, it is your choice to reduce Sugar and Boiling Water. e.g. 2/3 cup Sugar and 1 cup Boiling Water.

Method
  1. You need 2L capacity baking dish. If your baking dish is smaller, Sauce bubbles up and might overflow. You can reduce the amount of Boiling Water and Sugar, but that means you will have less Sauce.
  2. Preheat oven to 180℃.
  3. Whisk to combine Self-Raising Flour, Bi-carb Soda, Cocoa Powder, Sugar and Salt in a mixing bowl. Add Egg, Milk, Vanilla and melted Butter, and mix until smooth. Spoon the batter into a baking dish and spread evenly.
  4. For the Sauce, combine Sugar and Cocoa Powder in a small bowl, and sprinkle the mixture over the batter evenly.
  5. Gently pour Boiling Water over the Sugar mixture using a large spoon. What you have to do is pour the Boiling Water on to the large spoon, so that Boiling Water won’t hit the batter directly.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes OR until cooked through. *Note: Place the baking dish on a baking tray, if you concern the sauce overflowing. 1.7L capacity baking dish was used in the photo below, and you can see the sauce overflowed slightly.
  7. Serve the pudding hot, with Thickened Cream. *Note: It’s a good idea to serve the pudding with some fresh berries.