Everyone loves a chocolate pudding, this is flavoured with orange and served with a rich decadent sauce with a hint of orange liqueur. Serve as an alternative to a traditional Christmas Pudding.
Serves 6-8
1 x 2 pint / 1.2 litre plastic pudding basin with lid, buttered
125g butter, softened
125g golden caster sugar
2 large eggs
125g self raising flour
25g cocoa, sifted
Grated zest of 1 orange
Chocolate sauce:
200ml double cream
100ml whole milk
300g dark chocolate
2-3 tbsp orange liqueur
Decoration:
Sliced oranges, optional
1. Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined. Add the eggs, flour, sifted cocoa powder and the orange zest. Beat all the ingredients together and place the cake batter into the buttered pudding basin. Cover with the lid.
2. Into the base of the AGA Cast Aluminium Round Casserole with Skillet Lid place a couple of wooden dowels, (these are for the basin to sit on), and lower in the basin. Pour boiling water into the casserole to come halfway up the basin. Cover the casserole with its lid. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes on the simmering plate. Then transfer the covered casserole and its contents to the floor of the simmering oven for 1¾ hours.
3. For the chocolate sauce, heat the cream and milk in an AGA non-stick saucepan until just below boiling, take off the heat. Add the chocolate, broken into pieces, and the orange liqueur. Leave the chocolate to melt into the cream and milk, the warming plate or the back of the AGA is a good place for the pan to sit. Then whisk the sauce until it's smooth and glossy.
4. Carefully invert the pudding onto a cake stand and pour over some sauce, so it dribbles down the sides. Place the remaining sauce into a jug so your guests can help themselves.
