Despite weather forecasts predicting sun and warm temperatures over the coming week, we're definitely moving into autumn even though Britain is desperately clinging onto summer. However there's no denying the fact that we're heading towards a season of beautiful fallen leaves, evenings curled up under blankets watching Downton Abbey and the inevitable exciting countdown to Christmas.
As the nights become colder and darker there's nothing better this time of year than being a bit naughty and occasionally indulging in good old fashioned comfort food. Step forward the Self-Saucing Jaffa Pudding, the answer to all your autumn comfort food needs in the form of a rich chocolate-orange sponge floating on top of a thick chocolate sauce. Served steaming hot with a dollop of ice cream it's the ideal accompaniment to a night in on the sofa binge watching your favourite show.
Inspired by the Great British Bake Off's self-saucing puddings in Dessert Week I trawled the BBC Good Food website and came across this gem. The original recipe can be found here, but it's also below with my notes.
Ingredients:
For the sponge:
100g butter, melted, plus a little extra for the dish
250g self-raising flour
140g caster sugar
50g cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1 orange, zest and juice
3 eggs
150ml milk
100g orange milk chocolate or milk chocolate (I used a Terry's chocolate orange - currently £1 in Morrisons - but BBC Good Food used Divine orange milk chocolate)
For the sauce:
200g light muscovado sugar
25g cocoa
Method:
Grease a 2-litre baking dish with butter and heat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas 4.
Put the flour, caster sugar, 50g cocoa, baking powder, orange zest and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk together the orange juice, eggs, melted butter and milk.
Pour it into the dry ingredients and mix together until smooth.
Chop the chocolate orange into chunks and stir into the mixture.
Pour the sponge batter into the baking dish.
Mix 300ml of boiling water with the muscovado sugar and cocoa for the sauce.
Pour this all over the pudding batter – don’t worry, it will look very strange, (and a little like gravy if I'm honest…) at this stage and will potential slosh over the edges if you're not careful!
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 minutes until the surface looks firm, risen and crisp. The sauce will have magically dropped to the bottom of the dish and the sponge risen above it.
Leave to cool briefly, before transferring portions into bowls. It's not too easy to spoon out - the sponge is now resting on top of all the glossy, rich sauce - so I cut it with a knife, then spooned out.
Although it's delicious just like this, surrounded by the thick chocolate sauce, it's best served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream…
Or even better with a drizzle of double cream...
Omg.
If a Terry's Chocolate Orange became a pudding it would look like this. The sponge is beautifully light, and from the first bite you're hit with a mouthful of decadent chocolate followed by an explosion of orange. The balance of flavours ensures the chocolate isn't too intense and doesn't overpower the entire pudding - as I feared it would!
As far as I'm concerned orange and chocolate are a match made in heaven, so this pudding is right up my street!
If you give it a go then do let me know in the comments below or drop me a tweet! I'd also like to know if you have any autumn favourites - is there a pudding or dish that you think is perfect for this time of the year? What do you love to bake when the nights start to draw in? I'd love to hear your suggestions!
**Quick disclaimer: unfortunately beyond smelling this pudding I haven't actually tasted it. (See my Transformation Tuesday posts for more information.) I've had to rely on extensive descriptions from other people which is very frustrating as it looked - and smelt - amazing! I'll definitely be remaking this in a few months though!**
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