PUMPKIN SPICE CHOCOLATE PUDDING

Cut to me, clutching a big, corporate coffee chain red cup in the chilling whisper of Autumnal air, sipping my spicy festive drink and thinking ‘wow… when did I get this basic?’.

From pumpkin spiced anything to salted caramel everything, there are some trends that unfortunately I have to swan dive red-nosed first into… ignoring (or embracing?) any negative connotations attached to it.

I hate that all of my posts recently include the phrase “at this time of year…” but it’s true, there is something to be said for the seasons changing and how it effects our desire for certain flavour profiles.

And a spiced pumpkin just gets me, you know?

I don’t want it to stop at just coffee. In fact I only buy a Pumpkin Spiced Latte because of peer pressure. I’m approaching 30 and my youth is something I need to clutch unto. I actually hate flavoured coffees but again, that damn pressure. But I do like the spicy, autumnal flavours of the pumpkin spice… so I couldn’t resist cramming it into a pudding.

Join me in this pressure, won’t you?

I swear these are so damn good. Loads of flavour, a silky, creamy texture and made even more enticing by the fact that the whole thing is an absolute doddle to make. You could throw them together of a morning and let them set in the fridge so you get them ready to go after work.

First off you’ll need some pumpkin puree. If you have a can – GREAT, you need 250g of it. Otherwise, commence as follows.

Preheat an oven to 180c and get yourself a small pumpkin. Peel and de-seed it and get yourself 250g of the pumpkin flesh. Chop it up into smallish chunks and lay it on a baking tray. Scatter with 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, half a teaspoon of ground all spice and a little pinch of nutmeg.

Slash – if you want to know how to use up a WHOLE pumpkin, you can check out something I wrote in partnership with the Love Food, Hate Waste campaign here.

Drizzle over a little flavourless oil, mix everything together so that the pumpkin is coated and then roast in the oven for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin is squishy and beginning to caramelise on the edges.

Leave it to a cool a little and then with a handheld blender, blitz it down to a puree.

Now for the pudding.

Mix together 125ml of full fat milk and 125ml of double cream in a saucepan with a little vanilla extract. I do this by literally just putting a saucepan on a weighing scales and pouring in the milk until it hits 125g and then the cream until you got 250g. G and ML are the same on a weighing scales.

Pop this onto a hob on a medium heat and bring it a slight bubble.

While the milk comes to a bubble, get yourself 180g of dark chocolate and scrunch it all up in the wrapper. Empty the chocolate shards into your widest jug and scatter over a heaped teaspoon of instant coffee.

Now pour over the warm milk and cream and whisk into the chocolate until the chocolate and coffee start to melt and you have a super fragrant, runny chocolate sauce.

Scrape in the pumpkin puree and continue to whisk until everything is combined.

Pour these into your chosen vestibule. You could pour into four champagne glasses but I go for about 6 shotglasses / espresso cups. Bearing in mind this is a super rich pudding so you won’t need much for each serving.

Put your puddings in the fridge to set for about 6 hours but overnight would always be better to let it get SUPER fudgy and rich.

You could serve them as they are but I like to serve with some double cream which I whipped up to cloud like volume, dust with cinnamon and shove in a cinnamon stick.