The theme for Retro Recipe Challenge #6 is Food of Love. Like every other blogging event going on right now, it seems to be focused around Valentine’s Day. Bah! As I’ve said before, some people love Valentine’s Day, but I am not one of them. I am, however, a lover of food and that’s why I’m allowing myself to participate in a Valentine’s related event. I don’t know what says retro more than a self saucing pudding cake and that’s precisely what you have here. The source of this retro cake would be my Grandmother, (I wonder how she feels about being called retro?). According to Mom this used to be one of her favourite desserts when she was younger and she’s been bringing it up lately when I’m trying to figure out what kind of dessert I want to make. Usually I ignore her pleas for pudding cake because it’s one of the most simple recipes ever to make and I like something a little more challenging. If not challenging, at least make it something that requires I be in the kitchen for longer than 5 minutes, make me chop or stir or something to fill in some time. Mom is relentless though, she keeps on suggesting that I make the pudding. So when this round of Retro Recipe Challenge was announced as Food of Love, I figured I could make her the chocolate pudding and kill two birds with one stone. As the recipe directed, I made the cake in an 8 x 8 pan, but I also attempted to make a small one in a single serve heart shaped pan. The heart shaped one burned beyond edibility. I was secretly happy… Take THAT Valentine’s Day! In your FACE heart shaped things! But then I went ahead and added the mushy pink Valentine coloured scoop of ice cream to the non-burned cake. But it’s ice cream! It doesn’t matter what colour it is, it’s always tasty and always acceptable. This particular ice cream is especially good because it’s one that I adapted from none other than Dorie Greenspan. The woman needs to do a book of strictly ice cream. Why isn’t anyone making that happen? Why???
Chocolate Pudding (from Grandma)
Sauce
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa
¾ cup boiling water
1 cup milk
Mix sugar and cocoa. Gradually stir in boiling water. When smooth, add milk.
Batter
1 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa
¼ tsp salt
½ cup chopped pecans, (the original called for walnuts)
½ cup milk
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
Sift dry ingredients, add nuts. Add milk, butter and vanilla. Spread into a greased 8 x 8 pan. Pour the sauce over the top of the batter.
Bake on the upper shelf of the oven for 45 minutes at 350F.
Despite the simplicity, this pudding cake is actually quite tasty with a cakey top layer and pudding bottom. If you’re ever in need of dessert and think you don’t have time to make one, this seriously takes 5 minutes to throw together and then into the oven it goes. It’s even nicer when served warm with strawberry ice cream on top.
Bri’s Easy Strawberry Ice Cream (Adapted from Dorie’s Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream)
1 ½ cups strawberries, (generous)
1 cup sour cream
½ cup heavy cream
Splash of milk
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup superfine sugar
Blend and pour into the ice cream maker. Could it be any easier?
Technorati Tags:
RRC6 + Chocolate + Pudding + Cake + Ice+Cream + Strawberry + Dorie Greenspan
13 comments:
I almost used a similar recipe for the RRC6 event, but mine uses cake mix and you sprinkle the cocoa/sugar/nuts mixture over the batter once it's in the pan, then pour boiling water (1 cup I think) over that. Looks like the results are the same. That ice cream looks even better than the cake!
Retro it maybe but it sure is good!
Oh, Brilynn, what fabulousy fudgy chocolate pudding! Grandmothers' recipes remain the best, don't they?
Looks great Brilynn, and just in time for me to have a new dessert for tomorrow that doesn't involve birthday cake! Thanks!
Your love of Dori is starting to get a little out of control ;) Have you plastered your room with her pictures yet? Joined the Dori Greenspan fan club?
Just kidding :) I'm so glad you love her so much because it has rubbed off on me. I had her cookbook out last night and was drooling through many of the recipes. So delicious!
Having lived in Arizona a great portion of my life, I always celebrate Arizona's brithday(also Feb 14th) instead of Valentine's day.
Wow.. that looks scrumptious. Yours turned out way better than the first one tried in my kitchen. The ice cream has me drooling as well.. I need to buy an ice cream maker!
That looks sooo good! I have heard of these self-saucing cakes but have never tried one myself...I should! This looks like absolute boy-bait!
I know how you feel about the retro-ness...my dad bugs me to this day to make pineapple upside down cake. Criminy.
Love of food makes us do a lot of things...I can only count the ways...your cake looks definitely "saucy" (the other meaning not the literal) and I agree...ice cream is ice cream and no matter the color it is always good!
Oh--I'm melting! I love chocolate pudding so much!!!! And this is heaven! And the ice cream is genius!
I was going to do the retro event too--then I found out my Sheperds Pie is way too retro--it was first published in the 1700's!
Oh good, I'm glad to find another valentines day hater out there. There is nothing wrong with making something sweet and chocolatey with a little pink ice cream on the side even if it happens to land on that terrible day. It looks delicious!
OH my, that looks fabulous - it may be retro in some eyes, but puddings like that are timeless to me!
Your pudding cake looks good. I once made a chocolate pudding cake that was utterly vile. I don't know what I did but it came out not tasting like chocolate and wierdly gelatinous.
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