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For the sponge
- 125 g
butter, softened, plus extra to grease
- 8
green cardamom pods
- 125 g
caster sugar
- 2
medium eggs, beaten
- 175 g
self-raising flour
- 1 Tbsp.
cocoa powder
- 75 g
dark chocolate, melted and cooled
- Step 1First make the topping. In a small pan, gently heat the sugar, golden syrup and 1tsp water, stirring, until melted and bubbling. Turn up the heat to medium, stir in the pear and cook for 2min, until slightly softened. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4.
- Step 2For the sponge, thoroughly grease 6 x 175ml mini pudding (dariole) moulds. Using a pestle and mortar, bash the cardamom pods to break the husks. Pick out seeds (discard husks), then grind until fine. Using a handheld electric whisk, beat the butter, sugar and ground cardamom in a large bowl, until pale and fluffy.
- Step 3Add the eggs, flour, cocoa powder, cooled chocolate and a pinch of salt and beat until smooth and combined. Strain the pear, reserving the syrup, and divide the fruit equally between the moulds (make sure it’s in a single layer). Spoon ½tsp syrup into each mould (reserve remaining syrup for serving).
- Step 4Divide sponge mixture between the moulds and place in a roasting tin. Pour freshly boiled water around the moulds, so that it comes ⅓ of the way up the outsides. Cover tin with foil and bake for 35-40mim, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a pudding comes out clean.
- Step 5Carefully remove from oven. Using a tea towel to protect your hands, lift out the puddings, and turn out on to serving plates. Drizzle over the reserved syrup and serve with cream or custard.
Get ahead
Make puddings up to 2hr ahead. Remove from water bath and leave to cool completely, then set aside. To serve, unmould and serve at room temperature.
Per pudding:
- Calories: 482
- Protein: 6g
- Total fat: 23g
- Saturates: 14g
- Carbs: 61g
- Total sugars: 38g
- Fibre: 3g
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
