Baked Chocolate Pudding
Date Completed: 8/22/2021
Today I’m talking about another Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics recipe. I saw Ina make this on her show and knew I needed to make it. She describes it as a cross between a brownie and a pudding. She actually called it baked brownie pudding. I worried when I didn’t see brownie pudding in the index of the book. Happily, I found it in the Desserts chapter under the alias Baked Chocolate Pudding.
This recipe also gave us an excuse to purchase a bottle of framboise liqueur from our favorite local wine store - hooray! We didn’t splurge for the vanilla bean, though, and opted instead for regular vanilla extract.
Ina uses an oval baking dish, but I substituted a rectangle dish of a similar size. Close enough!
The first step is to beat 4 large eggs with 2 cups of sugar in a stand mixer for 5 to 10 minutes - such a long time! You then add the flavorings and a mixture of cocoa powder and flour. Once that’s just combined, you pour in half a pound of melted and cooled butter.
This recipe in a word: indulgent!
This gets baked in a water bath for an hour until the sides are almost set. The center is supposed to appear very under-baked (perfect for me!).
Taste Report:
Served with vanilla ice cream as Ina suggests, this brownie/pudding is divine. Certainly rich - just as a brownie should be! I wondered if I baked this a little too much because it leaned more toward a brownie than a pudding. That made it excellent for leftovers, though!
I loved the texture contrast between the crunchy bits from the top of the edges compared to the richly fudgy parts.
The one thing I noticed - or rather did not notice - was the framboise. Next time, I may add in an extra tablespoon or so to let that really stand out. Maybe I’ll splurge for the vanilla bean as well so I can scrape in the seeds.
Mess Report:
I didn’t do a great job documenting this recipe with photos. Instead of a mess photo, please enjoy this close-up of the ice cream melting into the brownie/pudding.
The cleanup for this wasn’t too bad overall: a pan from melting the butter, the stand mixer and an extra bowl, measuring spoons and cups. Since it stays stored in the baking pan, we didn’t have to clean that up until much later.
This made excellent brownie sundaes for the entire week - what fun!
2021 Roundup
Since this is my first post published in 2022, I had to include a quick reflection about the progress I made in 2021 - 36 recipes completed! Now, to be fair, I’m very behind on posting. I’m working to catch up here over the next few weeks!
The best part has been all the fun we’ve had in the kitchen! We’ve been very bold in trying new things that we’d never have tried without this project. I’m so excited to continue cooking and baking this next year!