Chocolate Yorkshire Puddings

Our Chocolate Yorshire Pudding Dessert Recipe is very much a work in progress and is in a constant state of revision in order to improve the taste, texture and overall appearance – in the end of we hope to create the perfect yorkshire dessert featuring the counties greatest side dish!

Safflower or Sunflower oil (or other oil with a high smoking point)
1 bar Green and Blacks dark or milk chocolate, broken into squares (or chocolate buttons)
Yorkshire Puddings
130 grams plain white flour
20 grams Green and Blacks organic cocoa powder
1½ tbsp unrefined caster sugar
Pinch sea salt
3 large fresh eggs
75 ml milk
75 ml water (or try mineral water)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Serve with strawberries, cream and flavoured caster sugar (see below), alternately serve with chocolate ganache (or ho chocolate sauce) and lightly whipped double cream; or caramel sauce drizzled over a little French vanilla ice cream.

Sift the flour, cocoa, sugar and salt into a large baking bowl. Whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla together. Gradually (quite slowly) add wet ingredients to the dry, while whisking or beating, to form a smooth batter. Finally, when the batter is lump free, gradually add sufficient water, while stirring, to achieve a consistency between single and double cream. Cover and rest for 60 minutes in the refrigerator (or at room temperature if preferred).

Preheat oven to 220ºC

Add a little oil to each cup of a 12 hole muffin tin, place into the oven. When very hot, pop a square of Green and Blacks chocolate  into a cup, immediately pour the batter into the cups, one third full (quickly repeat with remaining cups), place near the top of the preheated oven and bake until well risen and crispy – about 10 to 12 minutes

Serve immediately with the fresh strawberries, cream and flavoured icing sugar sifted over the top.

Strawberries – wash and remove the calyx from the berries, quarter. Drizzle over the juice of 1 lime and sifted icing sugar, to taste. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate if you want fresh cold berries, or cook in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves.

Vanilla Sugar

450 grams unrefined granulated sugar
2 vanilla beans (these should be quite sticky and soft)

Cut up the vanilla pods, place into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
Add the sugar, process for two minutes.
Sieve to remove any lumps which should be returned to the food processor, process again.
Sieve all the sugar together, return to the food processor and blitz until fine, store in sterilised airtight containers.
You can, of course, put a vanilla bean into a jar of unrefined caster sugar and leave until the sugar has a lovely subtle soft vanilla flavour. Reuse the vanilla pod.

Making Desserts Healthy

From creamy cheesecakes to sticky sponges, my Puddy Blog is heaven for any dessert lover. There are also savoury recipes such as Wensleydale cheese and apple cobbler and mince meat parcels, as well as some festive Christmas snack ideas.

Even if you are watching your weight, you can still eat delicious desserts. If you are online, browsing through diet websites while you play Cheeky Bingo and write up a diet plan, you may come across some boring pudding alternatives such as fruit salad with low fat ice cream or yoghurt and honey. However, this blog post will show you how make your favourite puddings healthier and just as tasty.

It couldn’t be easier to make a low fat and tasty Banoffee Pie. A full fat version of this creamy dessert normally includes a lot of butter, rich biscuits, whipped cream, condensed milk and chocolate. A few simple healthier substitutions, can cut back the fat content. Begin by crushing ginger snaps biscuits into crumbs. Melt a spoonful of light butter and combine with the biscuits, before pressing them into the bottom of a round tin. Instead of using fat filled condensed milk or toffee, a healthier alternative would be to use low fat toffee yoghurt. Spread the yoghurt over the crumbs, making sure you reach the edges. Next, thinly slice bananas and arrange on top of the yoghurt. Then whip some half fat cream and use sparingly. To top it all off, grate a cube of dark chocolate over the cream.

A fruit trifle is also easy to adapt and make healthier. Begin by placing sponge fingers and fresh fruits, like strawberries and raspberries, in a large bowl. Then simply melt sugar-free gelatine cubes with water over the heat. Constantly stir the mixture but as soon as it starts to bubble, take it off the heat. Pour this over the fruit and sponge and allow to set. Once it has turned to jelly, top with low fat custard and whip half fat cream to top it off. Decorate your trifle with a few strawberries or sprinkle some colorful sugar strands over the cream.