One of the things I've had more time and motivation for since moving to Norway has been cooking. Eating out is fairly expensive over here and the cost of food generally is high especially if you buy convenience type products so I have learnt to cook from scratch and really enjoy it. 

In particular I have always loved baking, mainly because I enjoy eating the final products so much! This Christmas I decided not to do the usual Christmas pudding as I thought it would be wasted on my two little boys. So I had a look around for an alternative and found a recipe for a Fudge Chocolate Pudding. This sounded irresistible, and proved to be delicious and the biggest bonus was how easy it was to make! I'm sure it will become a regular dessert in our house now so I thought I would share it with you all! 

Easy Chocolate Fudge Pudding

Ingredients
(Serves 8 people)
100g plain flour
150g caster sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 dessertspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
100ml semi skimmed milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

225g dark brown soft sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
450ml hot water

Method
Prep: 20 mins      Cook: 30- 40 mins
1. In a medium bowl combine flour, caster sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk, oil and vanilla until smooth. Spread in an ungreased 23cm square baking tin/ oven proof dish.
2. Combine brown sugar and 4 tablespoons cocoa, sprinkle over the mixture in the pan/ dish. Pour hot water over all - do NOT stir!
3. Bake at 180c / Gas mark 4 for 30-40 minutes. Leave for a few minutes to cool as the sauce will be extremely hot. Serve warm.

The pudding has two layers, a chocolate layer on the top and a chocolate fudge sauce layer on the bottom. Cold cream, creme fraiche or ice cream make the perfect accompaniment - enjoy!

If you have any favourite recipes I'd love to hear them =)