Sanguinaccio al cioccolato Chocolate pudding

My mother-in-law Angela, often makes dolce al cioccolato, as she calls it, with just cocoa powder, flour, sugar and milk. It’s rather like a very thick hot chocolate that she pours over the top of rice pudding and homemade celebration cakes. The handwritten notes on her mother’s recipe include flavouring the chocolate with vanilla and cinnamon. Other optional flavours would be lemon or orange zest, or a splash of rum or your favourite liqueur. I like to add a bit of dark chocolate for a silky, denser texture. Eat chilled with freshly whipped cream and tart, fresh berries for dessert, or eat warm with biscotti or Savoiardi (sponge fingers) for dipping. Serves 8 200g sugar 150g unsweetened cocoa powder 30g plain flour 600ml milk, warmed 70g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), roughly chopped 1 Combine the sugar, cocoa powder and flour in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the warm milk, a little at a time, so that you create a thick but smooth paste. 2 Continue adding the milk, stirring with a wooden spoon or whisk for the whole time, until you have a smooth mixture. Place over a very low heat and bring the mixture to a simmer for about 10-15min, stirring constantly. When it thickens enough to heavily coat the spoon, remove from the heat. 3 At this point, you’ll have lovely, thick, decadent hot chocolate, but to continue making the pudding, stir through the dark chocolate until melted. Pour the mixture into individual serving bowls or ramekins, or even into one large bowl to serve at the table. 4 Leave to cool, then put it in the fridge to chill and finish setting completely, or eat it warm, as is, with biscuits.

Tronco is a popular cake found all along the Tuscan coast. It literally means log or trunk, and is almost always stained pink with Alchermes liqueur and filled with a rich chocolate cream or even chocolatehazelnut spread. I find the latter too sweet and rich, and prefer it with a dark chocolate pastry cream. Serves 6 2tbsp caster sugar 125ml Alchermes liqueur Icing sugar, for dusting FOR THE CHOCOLATE PASTRY CREAM 100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa) 2 egg yolks 60g caster sugar 1tbsp cornflour, sifted 250ml warm milk FOR THE SPONGE 50g cornflour 50g plain flour 3 eggs, separated 100g caster sugar 1 For the chocolate pastry cream, first melt the dark chocolate in a microwave or over a bain-marie. 2 Use an electric hand whisk to whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale. Stir in the cornflour. Put the mixture in a saucepan over a very low heat and slowly add the milk, little by little to avoid lumps. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until the mixture becomes smooth and thick and coats the back of a spoon, about 10min. 3 Remove from the heat and stir through the melted chocolate until well combined. Cool quickly by spreading the pastry cream out into a shallow dish or baking tray. Place cling film over the top, so the entire surface is in contact with the film, ensuring the mixture doesn’t develop a skin. Keep in the fridge until needed. 4 Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/ gas mark 3 and line a 23 × 33cm baking tray with baking paper. 5 To make the sponge, sift the cornflour and flour together. Put the separated eggs in two clean metal or glass mixing bowls. Add the caster sugar to the yolks and whisk with an electric hand whisk for up to 10min, or until the yolks become very pale and creamy. 6 Clean the beaters very well, then whisk the whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold half of the whites and then half of the flours into the creamy egg yolks, and repeat with the remaining whites and flours until they are all combined. 7 Pour the batter into the lined baking tray – the mixture should be about 1cm high. Bake in the oven for about 1012min, or until the top is very pale golden and the sponge is springy in the middle. 8 Remove the sponge from the oven and let it cool ever so slightly, so you can handle it easily – you want to work with it while it’s still warm. Spread out a sheet of cling film and scatter it evenly with the caster sugar (this helps to stop the sponge sticking to the film). 9 Gently turn the sponge upside down onto the cling film and remove the baking paper. With a bread knife, trim the edges to stop the sides cracking as they’re rolled. Use a pastry brush to stain this side of the sponge evenly with Alchermes (see cook’s note). 10 Take the cooled pastry cream out of the fridge and generously spread over the top of the pink sponge, leaving a 1cm border around the edges. 11 Picking up the short end of the sponge with the help of the cling film, carefully and firmly roll it up. Secure by wrapping completely in cling film. Keep in the fridge to chill for 1 hour or overnight.