Gooey Chocolate Puddings

I have to try seriously hard not to make these every single day, and i probably would if i could manage to eat all four. Quite honestly the first time i made them i was a little scared that they weren't cooked enough after 12 minutes but i've learnt that rather than being afraid of salmonella you have to embrace the gooeyness. They keep well in the fridge if you make them before you want to cook them but i do find they are best cooked from room temperature. Having made them so so many times i have thought of several variations should you find this recipe a little unadventurous!

Ingredients:

60g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
50g butter
60g dark chocolate (minimum 70% coco solids-i used Lindt)
50g plain flour


Method:

Melt the chocolate and butter together and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Then mix the sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract until it looks pale and thick. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Finally sift the flour into the mixture and fold in. Grease four small ramekins and dust with coco powder. Divide the mixture between the ramekins and pop into a preheated oven at 160C for 12 minutes.


I usually keep mine in the ramekins and serve them with ice cream!

Variations:

1. Chilli chocolate- Instead of using plain dark chocolate replace it with good quality chilli chocolate. It adds a bit of a kick to the pudding and is abit more adventurous!

2. Baileys and chocolate- Add two tablespoons of Baileys or Tia Maria or anything similar that you might prefer to the mixture before adding the flour.

3. Cherry chocolate- Similar to above but replace the Baileys with a cherry liqueur.

4. Coffee chocolate- dissolve one heaped teaspoon of instant coffee in one tablespoon of boiling water and incorporate into the mixture.