Christmas - Chocolate Steamed Pudding

Merry Christmas to you all!

It's been one of my most relaxing Christmases to date - we always have fairly low key days anyway, but this year I planned to cook the food very differently and it made a huge difference.

As is traditional in our house, for Christmas dinner, we have roast lamb and all the trimmings (roast potatoes, roasted sweet potato and carrots, broccoli and pigs in blankets).

This year, I decided to try and cook the roast lamb in my new Instant Pot - which is the most amazing electric pressure cooker. I did two half legs of lamb so they would fit, rather than a full leg.

Oh my goodness, it literally fell off the bone it was so succulent and tender. By cooking it in the IP, it freed up my oven for the vegetables and sausages -  gone was all the juggling I normally do to get it all cooked at the same time. THIS is what made all the difference for a stress free Christmas dinner.

Anyway, for pudding this year I really wanted to try something in the pot. I was enticed in by a Donna Hay video on facebook for her chocolate pudding which she boils for hours. It just looked soooo good. In our family we aren't fans of the traditional Christmas pudding full of fruit, so I knew this would be an ideal alternative, yet still feel very Christmassy.

Click here for the original recipe.

I'm going to add the recipe to my page with the instructions for cooking it in the Instant Pot pressure cooker. By the way, if you have never heard of the Instant Pot - google it and check it out, and my recommendation: GO AND BUY ONE!! I absolutely love it!

Chocolate Christmas Pudding
From: Donna Hay
Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried dates
• 1 teaspoon bi-carb (baking) soda
• 3/4 cup (180mls) boiling water
• 55g unsalted butter, chopped and softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup (135g) brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup (110g) self raising flour, sifted
• 1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder, sifted
• 100g dark chocolate, melted

For the sauce

• 3/4 cup (180mls) single (pouring) cream - I used the same amount of coconut milk from the tin - mostly solids, but heated to become liquid to suit my milk-allergic son)
• 200g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup (60g) brown sugar
• 25g unsalted butter

Method:

1. Mix the bi-carb and water together, and place into a food processor with the dates. Allow to soak for 10 minutes and then process until they form a smooth-ish paste.
2.  Place the butter, sugar and vanilla into an electric mixer and beat for 5 mins until well combined. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one. You may need to add a spoonful of flour to help it come together.
3. Add the flour, cocoa, chocolate and date mixture and beat well.
4. Pour into a lightly greased 7-cup capacity (1.75L) pudding bowl. ***  Cover tightly and tie down with string, or use a lidded bowl if you can.
5. Place the pudding onto the trivet in the Instant Pot, and fill with boiling water until it is about 5cm below the rim of the bowl. Close the lid and put it on STEAM for 20 mins. Once that time has ended, turn it off, and then put in on MANUAL (high pressure) for 25 mins. Let it do a natural pressure release (NPR) for 20 mins.
6. Remove from the Instant Pot and allow to sit for 5-10 mins. Depending on your bowl, you may be able to turn it upside down and it comes straight out, or you may need to run a knife gently around the edge first. I use a lidded plastic bowl and it came out very easily on its own.
7. To make the sauce, place all the ingredients into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until everything is melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour over the pudding and serve.
8. I topped with sugared cranberries which I had made the night before and stored in an airtight container.

*** My pudding basin is only 1.2L big, so I filled it to about 4/5 full to allow for rising, and with the left over mixture I poured in into cupcake wrappers and cooked in the oven at 180 degrees for about 15 mins. Totally yummy!

Merry Christmas everyone, and a happy New Year to you too.

Kris x

Hot Fudge Sauce



If you are looking for a quick sauce to make for pudding, or as a gift, look no further!  Everything I seem to write about lately has the word quick in it. There's a reason for that. I have a 'proper' job, and baking is just my hobby on the side.
My day job, as a teacher at a very busy London school, takes up a great deal of my time outside school as well. So most of my baking is done late at night, or squeezed in around other things. Like this fudge sauce. I am supposed to be writing reports - it's almost the end of year, and school reports go home to parents on the final day. These reports I'm working on today, are due tomorrow. Typical. So, what do I do....perfect my fudge sauce!

I first saw this on Pinterest ages ago and had forgotten about it actually until my wonderful friend David asked me about it. So we have been testing it out in our respective kitchens. The first time, well, it didn't work. I followed the recipe to the tee. So, after experimenting and tweaking it, here is the final recipe and it truly is to die for.

I have decided to give it as 'teacher's gifts' at my son's school this year. Presented in these cute little jars, they look great. Last year I made some passionfruit curd and gave those and that was so well received that I thought I would do similar but different. (If you are one of said teachers reading this, act surprised!)

Note: the first time I made this I used good quality 70% dark chocolate. When it set in the fridge, the cocoa butter solidified. This time I have used a lower % chocolate - 54% -  and it's worked a dream.

Anyway, this recipe takes 5-7 mins to make. Yes, that's right...it's SOOO quick.

Hot Fudge Sauce
Makes about 2.5 cups

Ingredients

• 1 397g can condensed milk
• 200g chocolate - I used Sainsbury's Belgium dark cooking chocolate
• 110g butter

Method:

1. Melt the butter and chocolate over a medium heat in a saucepan on the stove, stirring.
2. Add the full tin of condensed milk, stirring as you add and until it is combined and looking rich in colour. Keep stirring as it warms up and combines, to keep it thick and glossy. It might take a few minutes for the butter to combine in properly.
3. Pour into the jars, or another airtight container. This can be stored in the fridge and taken out and heated in a microwave before eating.

Serving ideas: drizzled over vanilla ice cream, in a milkshake or even in a pot to dip strawberries into!
Variations: David added some Bailey's to his and said it was amazing. You can also add a few drops of vanilla or a favourite liqueur.