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Chocolate Surprise Pudding
Put a twist on a classic Christmas dessert with a surprise centre...
Serves 8Prep: 45 minutes, plus cooling time and chilling timeCook: 50-55 minutes
Ingredients:225g unsalted butter, softened225g caster sugar100g self-raising flour1 tsp baking powder3 tbsp cocoa powder4 eggs, beaten100g dark 70% chocolate, melted90ml Onken Natural Set yogurt
For the centre:A few handfuls selection of treats of your choice, e.g. mini candy canes, gold wrapped chocolate mints, gold & silver coinsChocolate frosting:50g butter, cubed140g dark 60% chocolate, choppedDrop peppermint extract (optional)
Frosting:70ml Onken Natural Set yogurt75g good quality white chocolate, meltedTo decorate (optional): Red-currants and a sprig of mint or faux holly
Method:1.Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.2.Thoroughly grease and flour a 20cm diameter x 10cm base pudding basin, lining the base with a circle of greaseproof paper.3.In a bowl use an electric whisk to beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, cocoa and eggs. Beat in the melted chocolate and yogurt.4.Spoon the cake mixture into the pudding basin, level the top, making a slight indent in the centre.5.Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.6.Leave to cool in the bowl for 15 minutes, before removing and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.7.For the chocolate frosting: Put the butter and chocolate in a bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water.8.For the white frosting: In a bowl mix a spoonful of the the yogurt into the slightly cooled white chocolate, then stir in the remaining yogurt. Chill in the fridge while the cake cools until ready to use.9.Use a large knife to slice off the bottom of the sponge about 1 cm thick. (Reserve the remainder of the sponge). Place the bottom sliced sponge onto a serving plate/cake stand. Fill the centre of the sponge with a few sweet treats.10.Scoop out the centre of the reserved top half of the sponge, leaving a border around the edge, and not removing too much of the sponge. (Use the excess cake for cake pops or truffles, mixing with any leftover frosting).11.Spread the chocolate frosting around the edge of the top scooped out sponge. Carefully invert over the top of the sweet filled bottom part of the cake.12.Spoon the chocolate frosting over the top. Use a palette knife or spatula to carefully, spread the icing over the entire pudding. Leave to set for at least 2 hours at room temperature.13.Carefully spoon the white icing over the top of the frosted cake to resemble snow. If not serving immediately chill at this stage.14.Just before serving decorate with red-currants and a sprig of mint or holly if desired.
TIPS:Use a sharp knife to cut the cake when iced.Ring in the changes, and make a chocolate orange pudding by swapping peppermint extract with orange extract or finely grated zest of 1 small orange. Fill the centre with orange flavoured chocolates and other sweets of your choice.Unwrapped sweets can be used to fill the centre, the pudding is then best served the same day to prevent the sweets becoming too sticky.