A rich chocolate sponge pudding that I learnt to make when my children were small. It was a welcome alternative to Christmas pudding with the orange flavoured chocolate sponge giving a festive twist. It is also made in a pudding basin and as it cooks, the sponge rises to the top leaving the rich chocolate sauce underneath.
The Sponge
75g self-raising flour
25g cocoa powder
100g soft light brown sugar
100g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs, lightly beaten
juice and zest of 1 medium sized orange
The Sauce
75g light brown sugar
25g cocoa powder
300ml milk
Preheat the oven to 180ºC and butter a 1 litre pudding basin.
To make the sponge, sieve the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl. Then, in a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together and beat in the vanilla essence and the eggs, adding a spoonful of flour in between each egg. Fold in the rest of the flour mixture, the orange zest and 2 tablespoons of the orange juice. Spoon into your buttered pudding basin.
For the sauce, mix together the sugar, the cocoa, the remaining orange juice and the milk. I used a jug to do this which made it easier to pour into the pudding basin.
Then simply pour the sauce over the sponge mixture and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes. I would recommend putting a baking tray underneath to catch any drips.
When it's ready, spoon into individual bowls and serve with cream or ice-cream. Don't be tempted to turn it out!
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