ARTICLE
Flourless chocolate puddings with creamy cloud tops
November 10, 2025-3 min read
Written by cook: Alice Zaslavsky
Takes: 45 mins
Makes: 12
These are my kind of melt-n-mix mini puddings that are easiest of all to make, perfect for sharing, and they’re gluten-free! Baking cakes and puddings is always best done in a conventional oven, which is why most fan ovens provide a “conventional” setting. That way, the batter doesn’t rise too quickly and crack on you. Luckily, even if this happens, once they’re cooled, you can mask any funny business with a decadent dollop of fluffy-cloud cream and crème fraiche, which you can whisk by hand, or set and forget in your stand mixer. Think of the flavour profile as an Irish coffee, in solid form. The espresso and whiskey balances brilliantly with the broody sweetness of couverture chocolate and cocoa. ‘Couverture’ refers to the quality of the chocolate, with a greater percentage of cocoa butter and finer texture, which gives it that rich, melt-in-the-mouth result we crave in chocolate desserts. Indeed, with the surprising pops of salted chocolate already gilding this lily, you’re welcome to leave the whiskey (and even the coffee) out entirely if making these with the kiddies, swapping in 50ml of just-boiled water instead.
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Ingredients
200g couverture dark (70%) chocolate
250ml pouring cream
50g butter
50ml strong espresso coffee (optional but excellent)
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 tablespoon whiskey/scotch (optional but excellent)
Pinch salt flakes
1/3 cup (30g) Dutch cocoa powder
2/3 cup (190g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 1/3 cups (125g) almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs, beaten
200ml thickened cream
200ml creme fraiche
Cocoa for dusting
Preheat oven to 180C conventional (or 160C fan).
Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper muffin wraps or baking paper.
Break chocolate into pieces and place into a large bowl. I like to use the kind that’s already in chip form, but if you’ve bought a bar of good quality dark chocolate from the shops, just whack it against the kitchen bench a bit to break it up before opening.
In a saucepan, heat cream and butter until bubbling, then pour over the chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl and leave to sit for 10 minutes.
Make the espresso (you can deploy everything from a pod machine to espresso maker to home barista setup to grabbing one from the café down the street!) and pour into the melted chocolate bowl along with the vanilla and whiskey and salt flakes. Stir until incorporated, then add in the cocoa, sugar, almond meal and baking powder and give it a good whisk until all the lumps disappear.
Whisk beaten eggs in until well combined, then distribute among the lined muffin tin holes and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched. You want the pudding to be a little undercooked, so it has that fudgy character when cooled.
Serve warm as they are OR, if you’d like, wait until the puddings are cool, then whip the cream and creme fraiche to just semi-firm peaks and spoon the billowy peaks over the cakes. Dust liberally with cocoa.
The un-topped puddings can be stored in airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days and microwaved for 30 seconds to serve warm and un-adorned, or pull out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving cold if you’re planning on topping with the cloud of cream. They can also be kept in the freezer and defrosted in the fridge overnight to serve.
