Now it’s the ultimate time for comfort food. Comfort food is food for the soul. It provides comfort and a sense of well-being. It’s usually the type of food that our grandmothers would cook for us. Maybe this is the reason why we feel secure, peaceful and snug. Well, I definitely do.
To be honest, it is not only the cold winter nights when I sit down with a bowl of comfort food. I treat myself quite often to it. Maybe I shouldn’t. At least, that’s what I always tell myself when eying myself in the mirror. 😉 Because most comfort foods are definitely not low in calories. But then, they are sooo good!
That’s exactly what I thought when developing today’s recipe, a gooey, sweet and comforting pear and chocolate pudding cake. Chocolate lovers will fall for it and it’s best eaten as a dessert, warm with cream or vanilla ice cream. The pears are cooked in orange juice, ginger and water and give the pudding cake a certain spice, lightness and flavor. If you are in a hurry, however, you can easily substitute the homemade stewed pears with canned ones. It still passes off as comfort food! 😉
Now there’s one handy hint that I don’t want to keep back, especially with Christmas and Christmas cooking coming up: this pudding cake can easily be prepared ahead and frozen up to a month. Wrap the dish with the batter and the pears with some cling foil and freeze it. Before baking, unwrap the dish and then you can directly transfer it to the preheated oven. Only keep in mind that you’ll have to prolong the cooking time for about 20 minutes (about 45-50 minutes instead of 25-30).
Pear and Chocolate Pudding Cake
Serves 4:
4 pears
2 tablespoons sugar
2 oranges (juice)
½ inch (1 cm) ginger, cut in two halves
¾ – 1 cup (200 g) butter
1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
4 eggs
2/3 cup (80 g) plain flour
½ cup (50 g) cocoa powder
1/3 lb (160 g) dark chocolate
1 teaspoon butter for the dish
Peel, halve and core the pears. Put them into a pot, together with the sugar, the orange juice, the ginger and enough water to just cover the pears. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 – 10 minutes until the pears are soft. The cooking time varies according to the ripeness of the fruits.
Preheat the oven to 220°C / 200°C fan / 425°F / gas mark 7.
Take a pot, which is large enough for the rest of the ingredients. Melt the butter in the pot (don’t heat it, the butter should only melt!). Remove from the heat. Add the sugar and whisk with an egg whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl and add them gradually to the butter and sugar. Keep whisking all the time. Combine the flour and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Add to the egg mixture and combine well. Coarsely chop the chocolate (about 1,5 cm / 0,5 inch pieces).
Grease an ovenproof dish with some butter. Pour the egg-flour mixture into the dish. Sprinkle 2/3 of the chopped chocolate on top. Take the pears out of the juice and place them into the chocolate batter. Scatter the rest of the chocolate over the pears and the batter.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes. The outside should be crisp and the inside soft.
Serve warm with some vanilla ice cream or cream.
Note 1: This pudding can be frozen before baking. Wrap the whole dish with cling foil and freeze it for up to a month. Take it out of the freezer, remove the cling foil and transfer it directly to the preheated oven. Bake for about 45-50 minutes instead 25-30.
Note 2: If you want to shorten the prep time you can use canned pear halves instead of cooking the pears yourself.
And here is the recipe for printing:
- 4 pears
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 oranges (juice)
- ½ inch (1 cm) ginger, cut in two halves
- ¾ – 1 cup (200 g) butter
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2/3 cup (80 g) plain flour
- ½ cup (50 g) cocoa powder
- 1/3 lb (160 g) dark chocolate
- 1 teaspoon butter for the dish
- Peel, halve and core the pears. Put them into a pot, together with the sugar, the orange juice, the ginger and enough water to just cover the pears. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 – 10 minutes until the pears are soft. The cooking time varies according to the ripeness of the fruits.
- Preheat the oven to 220°C / 200°C fan / 425°F / gas mark 7.
- Take a pot, which is large enough for the rest of the ingredients. Melt the butter in the pot (don’t heat it, the butter should only melt!). Remove from the heat. Add the sugar and whisk with an egg whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl and add them gradually to the butter and sugar. Keep whisking all the time. Combine the flour and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Add to the egg mixture and combine well. Coarsely chop the chocolate (about 1,5 cm / 0,5 inch pieces).
- Grease an ovenproof dish with some butter. Pour the egg-flour mixture into the dish. Sprinkle 2/3 of the chopped chocolate on top. Take the pears out of the juice and place them into the chocolate batter. Scatter the rest of the chocolate over the pears and the batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes. The outside should be crisp and the inside soft.
- Serve warm with some vanilla ice cream or cream.
