Rich Chocolate Puds with Seville Orange Curd Sauce

Having friends to lunch is a wonderful excuse to get cooking!   I've just bought some silicone moulds on-line, and thought I'd try some rich chocolate puddings, each in its own crisp chocolate shell.   Top tip - grease the moulds well, as it is not easy to ease out the shell without damaging it - there's always one that's a little less beautiful, but still tastes amazing....   Teamed with a bitter Seville Orange curd, and topped with gold leaf and chocolate doodles, this was a pudding to behold!   You can use standard lemon or orange curd, but the Seville orange curd has a bit of a bite to it.

Rich Chocolate Puds with Seville Orange Curd and Chocolate doodles

Chocolate Shells and Chocolate Doodles

1 mould with 5 or 6 hemispheres

Cake release spray or a light oil to grease

8oz/220g dark chocolate

Some edible gold leaf (not a requirement!)

Baking parchment

Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over water as described below.  Grease each mould well, then, using the tip of a knife, add a little piece of edible gold leaf (it sticks to everything!) to the base of the mould.  Paint the mould with the chocolate and try to get a good even layer (it is worth putting in a second layer if you feel nervous about getting it out in one piece!).  Chill to set.    Pour the remaining chocolate into a piping bag and pipe scribbles of chocolate onto the baking parchment.  Leave to set.   If you have any chocolate left over, use it up in the pudding recipe below. 

Rich Chocolate Puds

3 large eggs, separated

8oz/220g good black chocolate with high cocoa content

2 tbsp rum or Cointreau 

5fl oz/142ml double cream, softly whipped

Break up the chocolate and melt it in a microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Add a dessertspoon of water (or cream) to the chocolate to stop it from going stiff.  Make sure that the mixture doesn’t get too hot.    It is important that all the chocolate is melted, otherwise you get little lumps in the mousse, but you can stop before it gets too hot, and the residual warmth will melt the last remaining lumps.    Add the alcohol and stir it in slowly until smooth.

Add the egg yolks one by one, stirring in, then the whipped cream.  Whisk the egg whites until they are standing in stiff peaks.  Using a metal spoon, first fold about 1/3 of the whites in to break up the texture, and then add the remaining two thirds. 

Pour the creamy mousse into the chocolate shells and leave to set.    To serve, turn the moulds over and ease them out…. gently….. surround with slightly warm curd (just to make it flow a little), and top with the chocolate doodles.   

Seville Orange Curd

Grated rind and juice of 2 Seville oranges

2 eggs, beaten

4oz/110g butter

4oz/110g sugar  

The best way to make this is in a double saucepan (one with a separate chamber below for the boiling water), but a heatproof bowl (Pyrex) on a pan of simmering water works just as well, if a little more slowly. 

Put all the ingredients in the bowl/saucepan, and stir until the sugar has dissolved.   Carry on heating it, stirring from time to time, until the mixture has thickened – it coats the back of the spoon, and then becomes more difficult to stir.  Strain through a sieve (important – it gets rid of any lumpy bits of egg) into small (clean) jars.   Cover the jars as per jam – with waxed discs and cellophane tops.  Alternatively, as you will be using this up quickly, cut circles of parchment to fit the jars, and then put the lids back on firmly.