Chocolate Cake Pudding

Last Updated on November 13, 2019 by Chef Mireille

This recipe was an exercise in experimentation. Even my failed recipes I try to post here so you can hopefully learn from my mistakes and can avoid the heartache I went through…especially when I manage to turn the failure into a success or into something that is at least edible. Well this failure turned into one of my most successful transformations, although I am not sure what to call it – it’s not quite a chocolate pudding consistency…too thick. But it’s not actually a cake either. Whatever title you want to give it, I have one name for it…DELICIOUS

Anyone from the Caribbean is used to the intense flavor of 100% cacao. While most American kids prefer milk chocolate, I have always loved dark chocolate, even as a child. On cold winter mornings, the best thing to wake up to was a pot of hot chocolate simmering on the stove. My mother would have a cacao cone brought from the Caribbean by some relative or friend. I don’t know how, but we always had a supply on hand for wintry mornings. 100% pure cacao simmered with evaporated milk and spices was the way I knew hot chocolate to taste like, so the milk chocolate paled in comparison. Check out my recipe here for Caribbean style hot cocoa.

Now when I decided to recreate the Soft Chocolate Cake recipe from one of my cookbooks, it was a challenge to find semi-sweet chocolate in the pantry, as the recipe indicated. Semi-sweet chocolate is 60-65% cacao. I had a little left over from the chili chocolate I had used to make this Cardamom Hot Chocolate. (Green & Black brand) The label said it was 60% so it qualified as semi-sweet. However, all the other chocolate in the house was at 80% or above, definitely way beyond the range of semi-sweet. After a 12 hour work day yesterday, I wanted to veg in the house and didn’t want to step out of my pajamas to go to the store. I decided to use the intense dark chocolate anyway and just increase the sugar a bit.

Ok, so back to how the recipe for Soft Chocolate Cake turned into Chocolate Cake Pudding. First of all the recipe called for butter in the ingredient list, but didn’t indicate in the directions when to add the butter. I used my judgement. However, when I poured the batter into the cake pan, it seemed way too thin. I had little to no hope of this cake setting and as I was making it for today’s BM post, there would be no time to make another recipe if this one failed. Regardles, normally I might have chucked the recipe and looked for something else simple to attempt, but I had just used some of the superior 80% chocolate my cousin had brought me from Rotterdam and I wasn’t willing to let that go to waste. I decided to use my judgement (which failed me this time) and instead put it on the stove to made a rich chocolate pudding. However, within a minute the cake started setting at the bottom of the saucepan. Too late to bake the cake now. So I just continued to simmer and stir (so the cake wouldn’t stick to the bottom of the pan) until it became a consistency I found edible. Some would consider this a failure, but I created such a uniquely decadent dessert, it is a success in my book!

Is the lesson to follow the recipe always or to use your own instincts…not sure…you decide…

Chocolate Cake Pudding

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 5 oz. semi-sweet & dark chocolate combination (see notes)
• 1 cup 1% low fat milk
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream
• 4 1/2 oz. unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup + 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons shelled pistacchios

Using a double boiler, combine chocolate, milk and cream. Simmer until chocolate melts.

Meanwhile, melt butter in the microwave. Stir into the chocolate.

Using an electric mixer, combine the egg whites and salt. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Beat egg whites and sugar until light and fluffy.

Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour. At this point, it will be very clumpy.

Add chocolate and fold in until thoroughly combined.

Finally, fold in the egg yolks. No matter how much I mixed, the batter was still a little clumpy. Turn the mixer back on and beat for about 3-4 minutes until thoroughly combined and try to get as smooth as possible.

Pass the batter through a sieve into a saucepan. On medium heat, simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Serve warm, garnished with pistacchios.

Notes:

I used 1.4 oz. of 60% chili chocolate and the rest of 80% chocolate. If you use all semi-sweet chocolate as the original recipe indicates, subtract 2 tablespoons of sugar.

The recipe called for full fat milk. I only had 1% low fat milk, so I used 1 cup of low fat milk and 1/4 cup of heavy cream.

If you’d like to try the cake, bake the batter in a buttered pan in a 375 F oven for 45 minutes.

As I love custardy pudding like consistency desserts, I actually think I enjoyed this more than I would have the cake. With a consistency like this, can it really be called anything but a successful dessert?

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Chocolate Cake Pudding

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 5 oz. semi-sweet & dark chocolate combination see notes
• 1 cup 1% low fat milk
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream
• 4 1/2 oz. unsalted butter
• 3 eggs separated
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup + 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons shelled pistacchios

Instructions

• Using a double boiler, combine chocolate, milk and cream. Simmer until chocolate melts.
• Meanwhile, melt butter in the microwave. Stir into the chocolate.
• Using an electric mixer, combine the egg whites and salt. Beat until stiff peaks form.
• Beat egg whites and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour. At this point, it will be very clumpy.
• Add chocolate and fold in until thoroughly combined.
• Finally, fold in the egg yolks. No matter how much I mixed, the batter was still a little clumpy. Turn the mixer back on and beat for about 3-4 minutes until thoroughly combined and try to get as smooth as possible.
• Pass the batter through a sieve into a saucepan. On medium heat, simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Serve warm, garnished with pistacchios.

Notes

I used 1.4 oz. of 60% chili chocolate and the rest of 80% chocolate. If you use all semi-sweet chocolate as the original recipe indicates, subtract 2 tablespoons of sugar.

The recipe called for full fat milk. I only had 1% low fat milk, so I used 1 cup of low fat milk and 1/4 cup of heavy cream.

Did you try this recipe? Leave a comment below.Please follow me on Instagram @chefmireille or tag me #chefmireille with your pics! I'd love to share them!

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