June 20, 2009

Pudding For Maxi



Maxi phoned last night. He spent a good half an hour talking to my son Mitch about their upcoming reunion. Mitch booked his ticket last week and in about one month he shall be winging his way over to Maxi's in Germany for what promises to be an amazing and wonderful experience.

I remember the first time I met him. He walked into the house with the biggest brightest smile, looked me straight in the eyes, came into the kitchen, put out his hand and said "hello, it's so nice to meet you, my name is Maxi". Well, I nearly fell over backwards. Some of my son's friends would barely look at me let alone say hello. Maybe it had something to do with being "16", you know, it's not cool to talk to mums or something like that. Whatever, all I know is this boy was the most polite lad I had met. It didn't stop with the first meeting either. His manners and courtesy were notably better than most of the kids his age but it was also his willingness and eagerness to talk and be engaged in conversation with adults that I found so refreshing.

I was very pleased he had befriended my son. He had been at the school on a foreign exchange program for a year but he and Mitch became really close in the remaining five months of his stay. He came over to our house lots of times, and I always looked forward to seeing him. That was about three years ago, and he has been over to Australia twice since then. Although he and Mitch are "best buddies", I think his aussie girlfriend had a lot to do with it.

On his last trip he had dinner at our place on a regular basis and I recall this one occasion when I made chocolate pudding for dessert and I lost count of the number of times he said "yummy". Honestly, he almost drove me nuts. Did I mention he was a polite boy? But I think this went beyond politeness and he really meant it! He even asked for the recipe. When we gave him his Christmas present I wrote out the recipe and tucked it inside the gift.

So on the other side of the world lives my son's best friend. Time has not dulled their friendship, infact quite the opposite as it has strengthened. I am hearing quite a bit about what is going to be on the agenda. Treks and bushwalks through the mountains in Austria, a stay and hiking in the Black Forest, an ambitious bike ride to Paris that will take two weeks but most exciting of all, attending the football games both home and away of Maxi's team Stuttgart.

I'm afraid my son is not a keen beer drinker so that may present some social challenges in the biggest beer drinking country in the world.
Oh well, I can think of worse challenges. So in place of a beer, I raise this cup of pudding to Maxi and Mitch and I wish you both "a safe, exciting and most adventurous time of your lives".



Chocolate Self-Sauce Pudding
adapted from the family circle

1 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup of caster sugar
90gm butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

Sauce
1 1/2 milk
200gm cooking chocolate, chopped
250mls water

Place all sauce ingredients into a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir often till all the chocolate has melted. Keep hot.

Preheat oven to moderate temperature.

Sift flour and cocoa; put in large mixing bowl. Add sugar; stir through; make a well in centre.

In a jug or small bowl place the melted butter, milk and beaten eggs. Whisk till well combined. Pour about half into the well in the flour; mix through; add the remaining liquid; beat till well incorporated and there are no lumps.

Spoon the mixture into a baking dish; pour the sauce gently over the pudding mixture, I pour it directly over a large spoon which then disperses the liquid around the dish rather than pour it directly onto the mixture.

Bake for approx 40 to 45 mins or till the cakey part is cooked through.

Serve hot; with ice cream or whipped cream.

If left; the cake will absorb much of the liquid so you will not have as much of the sauce leftover. Everyone in my family really looooves that sauce. And so does Maxi.



PS: I'm off interstate again. See you in about a week. Take care all and happy cooking.

14 comments:

  1. What a great way to see them off to their trip! I'm not a drinker either, so rising a cup of chocolate self-sauced pudding sounds perfect!
    Good friend are hard to find and must be treasured! Trips together form long-lasting bonds.

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  2. Hi Mariana
    That pudding would have the perfect finished to my Pot Roast last night,
    I will try and make it perhaps to night

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  3. oh my goodness that looks so "yummy" to quote Maxi. Can't wait to make this one. A perfect dessert to have in the cold melbourne weather by a fireplace. Yummy Yummy.

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  4. I love the self-saucing pudding. I'm bookmarking.

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  5. Hope your trip interstate was a good one :-) The chocolate pudding looks sticky, gooey and downright delicious. I rushed to the cupboard to see if I had the ingredients for instant gratification ;-) Unfortunately I had eaten the cooking chocolate (hangs head in shame)...they say you can't have your cake and eat it....well I can't have my chocolate and eat it. LOL Dare I buy another bar or shall I just look at your photos and dream. Safe travel to Mitch for next month. What an opportunity!

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  6. I've never had much success with baking, however I couldn't resist trying the recipe. To my surprise the cake/pudding was a great success...

    Thank you
    Diane

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  7. Oh. So. Good. What a lovely story of friendship, Mariana. I hope your boy Mitch has a wonderful trip.

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  8. I couldn't agree with you more Marta. It is so funny that it has taken a boy from another country to really understand and connect with my son. I get the feeling they will be close for a very long time.

    Oh well Jorgen; there is lots of winter remaining so lots of opportunities left to make this nice hot pudding.

    Gosh Kylie, I don't want to think about how cold it is in Melbourne. And yes, this will be perfect by the fireplace. What a lovely image.

    Hope you get round to making it Catherine.

    Hi Linda. It was far from an enjoyable trip Linda; ongoing family needs that require attention; it never seems to end. Oh you are so funny. You are not alone in running out of cooking chocolate; especially when there is no other chocolate left in the pantry. Mitch read this post and he said he liked your comment.

    Oh I am so very pleased to hear about your baking success Diane. Wonderful. Success comes with practise so keep up the baking efforts! Great stuff.

    Ahhh, well if it aint my old cyber friend. So glad you dropped by Debora. I've missed you. Yes they have a very special bond that pair and Im sure he will have a ball.

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  9. Yummmm, I feel like this so much right now.
    Too bad I finished it all off the other morning :(
    Oh and, brilliant photo's ma!
    Nicka xx

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  10. Yes Marianna you photography is just wonderful ...I can taste it just by looking at the photos. I never like recipe books that don't have photo in them as the recipes never look interesting at all. I now have your site as my home page as then I can see if you have done a new recipe!!

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  11. Gee thanks Boo Boo. Well winter is far from over so I am sure there will be more self sauce puddings to come.
    PS. Good luck with your photo entries in the show. My fingers are crossed.

    Hello there stormy. Gosh it's been a while since you last visited. You have missed lots of my preserve recipes. Next time you are with your dear father you must show him as I know how much he adores jams and marmalades. I hope both he and your mum are keeping well.

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  12. Hi Mariana: quick note to tell you that I tried this and it came out absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe!

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  13. It's just the best feeling to hear that Marta. Thank you for letting me know. Wow it's "notes" like this that make blogging worthwhile. I'm really pleased.

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  14. Hi, I came here from the foodieblogroll and Ive had so much fun reading your posts!This recipe looks so delicious and I cant wait to try it.I'd love to guide our readers to your site if you won't mind.Just add your choice of foodista widget to this post and it's all set to go, Thanks!

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