Roasted Hazelnut Hot Chocolate Puddings

There’s that moment when you spoon into the first bite of a hot chocolate pudding and wait for the delightful gooey chocolate interior to come running out into your spoon – heaven! The trick is not to overcook them as they really don’t need more than 8 minutes to bake. Just ensure that your oven is properly preheated. You can make the mixture up a few hours ahead and store it in the fridge. The hazelnuts are so delicious crusted around the top and sides of the pudding – I also swap them with almonds, Brazil nuts or pistachios. If I have some nice berries, such as raspberries, blueberries or blackberries, I’ll pop a few into the pudding mix too. 30g butter 100g blanched hazelnuts, very finely chopped 180g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into chunks 4 eggs, separated 100g caster sugar 50g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Grease six ovenproof china cups or small ramekins with the butter, then sprinkle onequarter of the finely chopped hazelnuts evenly around the inside of each, setting aside another quarter for topping the puddings.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water). While the chocolate is melting, in a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and the remaining 50g hazelnuts together. Whisk the melted chocolate into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the flour.

In another very clean and dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour the pudding mixture into the prepared cups or ramekins and sprinkle the reserved hazelnuts on top. Stand on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 9–10 minutes.