Self-saucing Coffee-Chocolate Pudding

I was working from home one weekday. It was a hot sunny afternoon and I was quite sleepy, and bored of work. I was longing for a break. But I resisted, knowing myself very well that a break will only result in binging on unhealthy snacks. After a while I was so drowsy, that I could not put off my break-time any longer. I came up with a better idea. What if I could bake something simple and quick during this break. Anyway I usually get so engrossed in baking and the aroma of baked goods fills me up that I will not end up binging... I then remembered the Self-saucing Coffee-Chocolate Pudding that was our November punch. I had to skip this challenge as I was on business travel for most part of October and early November. I had never made a pudding before and I was tempted to try this recipe and looking at it, it was a perfect fit for my afternoon break.

I also had some ramekins (12 cups - small size) that I wanted to try baking with. Folks at home are put out with the normal sized muffins and cupcakes that I have resolved to bake and serve in smaller portions. I discovered that serving portions of this size works very well, the goods are devoured and there is very little wastage.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour (I used wheat flour)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cocoa
Pinch salt
½ cup brown sugar (I used demerara sugar)
2 tbsp butter, melted
½ cup milk
1 egg, beaten
50g hazelnuts, chopped (I omitted this)

For the topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar (I used demerara sugar)

3 tbsp cocoa1 cup strong black coffee

Method:

1 Preheat oven to 170°C (original recipe states 180 degrees C). I use a convection oven and I usually set it lower than specified.
2 Sift together dry ingredients.
3 Stir through butter, milk, egg and hazelnuts until well combined.
4 Spoon batter into the ramekins (I used 12 small ramekins).
5 Sprinkle over brown sugar and cocoa then pour over coffee but do not stir.
6 Bake for 10-12 minutes. (Original recipe states 20 minutes). The time specified in the original recipe is for large ramekins. I baked for 15 minutes and found the pudding a little too dry.
7 Dust with cocoa powder or cinnamon and sugar; serve with vanilla ice cream.

I just served it plain with no dusting. I warmed it up for 15-20 seconds in the microwave just before serving.

Verdict: The coffee-chocolate combination is unbeatable. It was devoured by everyone at home, particularly my little girl. But she mistook it for a cupcake given the dry texture. I plan to try this again with the right baking time and APF instead of wheat flour.