I totally judged the book by it’s cover when I bought this. The cover photo of those dried up orange slices dipped in dark chocolate had me licking my lips, so I bought the book without a second thought. The book, Indulgence Chocolate: A Fine Selection of Sweet Treats is one of a series of Indulgence books. I’ve also got Indulgence Cupcakes and Indulgence Petits Fours. The covers are printed canvas which makes the books feel extra special.

I love the pear, chocolate and spice combo, so I didn’t need any convincing to test this particular recipe out. These puddings are pretty sweet, but actually quite light. Test one out with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream!

Chocolate, Almond and Pear Puddings
makes 8

1/3 cup golden syrup
8 tinned pear halves (from 825g/29oz tin – my tin had about 11 halves in it)
75g (1/2 cup) plain flour (all purpose flour)
30g (1/4 cup) cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground Allspice (optional)*
55g (1/2 cup) ground almonds
3 eggs, at room temperature
165g (3/4 cup well packed) brown sugar
60ml (1/4 cup) milk
1/3 cup golden syrup, extra
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F). Grease 8 holes from two non stick 6-hole giant (Texas/1 Cup) muffin tins.

Spoon the golden syrup into the bases of the muffin holes. I added about 2 tsp to each, but didn’t measure that I’d used 1/3 cup. Place a pear half in each, cut side down.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and allspice into a medium mixing bowl. Stir in the ground almonds.

Beat the eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and glossy. It’ll look a bit like liquid meringue. With a spatula, fold in the milk and then the flour mix until just combined.

Spoon the pudding mixture over the pears. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then run a knife around the edge of each pudding and turn out onto a wire rack.

Serve immediately drizzled with the extra golden syrup. These puddings are great to make ahead, simply reheat in the microwave. They can also be frozen.

*I used the ground Allspice as listed in the recipe but I also think cardamom, cinnamon, Pfeffernüsse Spice Mix or mixed spice would all work well. You could also leave the spice out if you’d prefer it straight.