I don’t usually butt into our regular writers particular area of expertise, but we had a some spare space and I was reminded of this recipe the other day when my children set up a clamour for it on the first cold night of the year.

These old English pudding recipes come from a time before anyone had heard about size 0 or cholesterol problems, so you can pretty much hear your arteries hardening as you eat it, but we’ve all got to die of something, and this pudding is just about worth it.

If you can manage a big Roast Lamb with lots of garlic and rosemary before hand you will probably need to lie flat on your back for a couple of hours afterwards, but even if your arteries and stomach hate you, your taste buds will think you died and went to heaven.

Ingredients (Serves 6)

• Melted butter, to grease dish
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 50g butter, melted
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• Thickened cream, to serve

Chocolate sauce

• 3/4 cup soft brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1½ cups boiling water

Method

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Brush a 1.5L capacity baking dish with melted butter to lightly grease.
• Combine the flour, sugar and cocoa powder in a medium bowl.
• Combine the milk, butter and egg in a large jug.
• Gradually pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until well combined.
• Pour into the prepared dish and smooth the surface.
• To make the chocolate sauce, sift the sugar and cocoa powder into a bowl and add boiling water.
• Gently pour the boiling water mixture over the pudding mixture in the baking dish.
• Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes or until a cake-like top forms and a skewer inserted halfway into the centre comes out clean.
• Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
• Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

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