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Remember Death by Chocolate? Prepare to meet your maker with our recipes for molten chocolate
We are passionate about chocolate. It makes us feel passionate. We give names like Chocolate Nemesis to puddings and cakes. Maybe it’s the way it coats the tongue with a luscious smoothness. And the wicked luxury of indulging in something so seductive that, gone in a trice, will only sink to the thighs. But it’s just as likely we are captivated because of the presence in chocolate of phenylethylamine, the same chemical stimulated naturally in the brain by falling in love.
Melting chocolate
Melted chocolate is the best, a glossy rich ooze calling out for a scoop of ice cream to harden over, or a finger to be plunged into its tepid mass. With their gooey elasticity, chocolate mousses and petits pots de chocolat are the perfect puddings to demonstrate just how chocolatey melted chocolate can get.
But it can be temperamental. If you melt it over a direct flame, it can quickly overheat and turn into sand. So play it safe and always put it in a bowl over a pan of
gently simmering water, stirring often. If you are still having trouble, try it with the pan off the heat completely.
Or melt the chocolate in a low oven, 110C/225F/gas mark ¼, though this will take longer. You can also melt it in a microwave, but the length of time depends on the wattage of the oven. Start with 1 minute, then check and stir if it needs another blast.
Buy the best
To make the best chocolate dishes, you must buy the best to start with. Good cooking chocolate bars generally state the percentage of cocoa they contain. 70% is the minimum to strive for. (By the way, white chocolate is not really chocolate at all. Though it contains cocoa butter – and milk and sugar – it has no chocolate liquor, which is why it stays white.)
If you don’t have chocolate to hand, pure cocoa powder can be used instead with a mixture of 3 tbsp cocoa, 1-2 tbsp sugar and 15g butter for every 25g called for in the recipe.
Get saucy
For a pudding with a chocolate sauce, only specific sauces will do. For instance, what works with a Poire Belle Helene is not so good over ice cream, which needs a sauce that will crisp on contact like a thin helmet.
Next page: hot chocolate recipes
Chocolate Sauce 1
This great pouring sauce is ideal with poached pears, cake or meringues.
Serves 4
300ml whipping cream
250g plain chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp espresso coffee, brandy or orange liqueur, or water, depending on the flavour you want
Bring the cream to the boil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Put the chocolate pieces into the container of a blender or a food processor. Pour in the cream and blitz till melted. Add the liquid and pour into a jug.
Chocolate Sauce 2
This chocolate sauce is pretty luscious, particularly in a layered ice cream sundae. It doesn’t begin to harden the moment you take it off the stove.
Serves 4
175g good plain chocolate, broken into pieces, or chocolate buttons
50g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
200ml milk
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water with the butter. Then add the sugar and syrup, stirring until dissolved. Pour in the milk and stir gently until the mixture thickens.
Chocolate Sauce 3
For the fastest chocolate sauce, with a surprise bite of nougat and nuts, slowly melt, without stirring more than the minimum, 200g Toblerone triangles in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering hot water. When soft, stir in 30g butter till melted, followed by 100ml whipping cream. Use at once. Serves 4.
Hot Chocolate
The best possible hot chocolate drink – for cold nights by a roaring fire or tucked up under a duvet with a good novel – is made with real chocolate.
Serves 4
600ml milk
100g plain or bitter chocolate
sugar, to taste
¼ pint whipping cream (optional)
chocolate shavings (optional)
- Bring the milk to simmering point with the chocolate in a heavy-bottomed pan, stirring all the while with a wooden spoon or whisk, for not less than 3 minutes. Add sugar to taste.
- Pour into mugs and spoon lightly whipped cream on top, then grate over a few curls of chocolate.
Black and White Chocolate
Pudding Cake
This is a miraculous confection that divides during the cooking process into a gummy sponge topping with a gooey rich chocolate sauce beneath. It is quick and easy to make and contains no eggs.
Serves 4
butter, for greasing
115g unsifted plain flour
300g granulated sugar
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp instant espresso (or strong) coffee granules
¼ tsp salt
115ml milk
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g white chocolate, coarsely chopped (optional)
- Grease a 20.5cm square x 5cm deep baking pan.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Position rack in the centre of the oven.
- Place the flour, half the sugar, 4 tbsp cocoa, the baking powder, cinnamon, espresso coffee and salt in a mixing bowl and blend well.
- Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and chopped white chocolate and beat well with a wooden spoon.
- Spoon the mixture into the pan.
- In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 150g sugar and 2 tbsp cocoa powder then spread evenly over the top of the mixture.
- Pour 225ml boiling water over the cake. Do not stir.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until the top looks crisp and a cake tester comes out clean. Serve warm straight from the pan, with cream or crème fraîche.
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