Come over to the dark side

Dense, silky rich chocolate, spritzed with crunchy crystals of seasalt. Have I piqued your interest yet?

This chocolate pudding ticks all my boxes, in that it’s quick to prepare, uses one pan, and is so rich I don’t even consider wanting anything else.

So yes, it’s essentially solid ganache, but I don’t hear anyone complaining. Plus, it only contains three ingredients. THREE! You can make it in any increments you want – it’s perfect for dinner parties because you can scale it up and down, and it’s ready before you even have time to think that maybe your guests won’t want a pudding anyway. They definitely do, and this is it.

Indulgent chocolate pots

Ingredients

(Makes 2 small bowls, or 4 ramekins)

100g dark chocolate
150ml double cream
A pinch of flaked seasalt (don’t use any salt if all you have is table salt – play around with the variations. See below for some examples)

Method

Start about 2 hours before you want to eat it: this recipe is also ideal if you come home from work knowing you’ll want pudding later, but you need to cook dinner first.

• Gently heat the double cream in a small milk pan
• Bash the chocolate into chunks and put it into the pan with the cream
• Stir constantly, removing from the heat as soon as all the chocolate chunks have melted.
• Pour the mixture evenly between the bowls or ramekins while it’s still runny, and sprinkle the centre of each surface with a teeny pinch of seasalt
• Refrigerate to set, until ready to serve. Really good with a strong coffee or a coastal whisky to bring out the saltiness in both – try any Old Pulteney or a Scapa Skiren.

Variations

Try these alternative additions to your chocolate pots if your guests/co-chocolate fans have different palates. Most of these ingredients should be added while the mixture is still in the pan.

• Grated orange zest, a classic combo
• Stir 3-4 drops of vanilla essence into the mixture. This will make it super-sweet, but it’s gorgeous
• Go darker with the chocolate (70%+ cocoa solids) and gently stir in the tiniest pinch of chilli powder*
• Add a nip of whisky (half a dram, tops) to the mixture for a grown-up twist
• Add a layer of crumbled biscuits to the top of the mixture once it’s in the ramekins or bowls. Hobnobs, Oreos or almond biscotti would be just 👌

*I use Cornish Seasalt wherever I can, not just because I’m Cornish but because I honestly think the flavour is oceans ahead of anything else I’ve tried. They do a beautiful chilli seasalt which would work really well here.