Uh-oh. This may well be the most amazing pudding EVER. Squidgy chocolateyness with pears, flaked almonds for a bit of crunch, and then more chocolate. Enter at your peril! Just to top it all off it can be prepared in advance and frozen as a whole or in portions, then flung into the oven when required. And then (there’s more) it’s utterly lovely eaten cold, in a brownie styleee. You have been warned. When we’re finally allowed to have friends & family over for dinner this is the pud I will make. Serves 8.
Ingredients
200g butter
300g caster sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp almond extract
50g cocoa powder
75g plain flour
Pinch of salt
4 fresh or tinned pears, peeled, cored, halved
100g dark chocolate
25g flaked almonds
Cream / ice cream to serve
Method
- Heat oven to 170C Fan and butter a 30cm x 20cm (ish) ovenproof dish.
- Gently melt the butter in a large saucepan until just melted, then stir in the sugar. If the mixture isn’t completely cool then set it aside for 5 mins or so. You don’t want to scramble the eggs in the next step.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, along with the almond extract if you’re using it. You could substitute the extract for 50ml amaretto if you want to (I did).
- Sift in the cocoa, flour, and salt, beat to combine, then pour/scrape the whole lot into the prepared dish.
- Nestle the 8 pear halves in the mix.
- If freezing the pud, now’s the time.
- Break/chop the chocolate up into chunks and scatter over the top, along with the flaked almonds.
- Bake for 40 minutes – it should be cooked around the edges but enticingly gooey in the middle. If baking from frozen, give it an extra 10 minutes.
- Serve with a drizzle of cream or ice cream.
From My Kitchen 