Steamed Chocolate Pudding with Chocolate Custard {gluten-free}
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This Gluten-Free Steamed Chocolate Sponge Pudding with Chocolate Custard is the ultimate in pudding decadence. Warm and sticky gluten-free chocolate pudding steamed on the stove top then served with lashings of rich chocolate custard. No xanthan gum required because of our carefully chosen blend of gluten-free flours.
Jump to:
- Why you’ll love this dessert
- Gluten-free flours needed
- Full list of ingredients needed
- How to make a Gluten-Free Chocolate Pudding
- How to steam a pudding
- Make ahead
- How to freeze
- Can you re-heat in the microwave?
- What to serve with your Chocolate Pudding
- How to make Chocolate Custard
- Alternative serving suggestions
- More gluten-free desserts you'll love
- Steamed Chocolate Pudding with Chocolate Custard {gluten-free}
This Steamed Chocolate Sponge Pudding with Chocolate Custard takes me right back to childhood. It was a pudding which was on constant rotation during school dinners at my primary school and is my absolute favourite dessert.
This is an old school gluten-free steamed pudding, cooked the old fashioned way, in a pudding basin on a stove top (rather than the oven).
Steamed puddings are few and far between these days but this Chocolate Pudding will encourage you to rediscover them. It is so quick to pull together, perhaps a little bit faffy to sort out the lid of the pudding basin and make sure you have a big stockpot large enough to fit it in, but really only five more minutes of prep time.
It does steam for 1½ hours so a little longer than a sponge you might bang in the oven but really there is no bother and technically no baking involved so a great pudding if your oven is on the blink.
This Gluten-Free Chocolate Sponge Pudding is served with a proper nursery custard that has body and a life of its own outside its sponge accompaniment. Gorgeously rich, full of chocolate flavour and a definite step up from the Bird’s Custard standby.
Why you’ll love this dessert
- A really indulgent Gluten-Free Chocolate Pudding. Sticky on the top from the rich ganache you cleverly nestled into the bottom of the basin which then soaked alluringly into the sponge during steaming.
- Thick rich homemade chocolatey custard that is a perfect pudding in its own right but a wonderful accompaniment to your sponge pudding.
- The chocolate pudding is moist and almost gooey in the centre and is the part you really want to get your spoon stuck into as you are serving it up.
- You don’t need to switch your oven on as everything is done on the stove top.
- Beautiful blend of gluten-free flours that give this pudding a perfect taste, texture and structure.
- No need for xanthan gum. Read More >>> Why I don’t Bake with Xanthan Gum.
Gluten-free flours needed
Almond flour
The protein in this nut flour helps with the structure of the chocolate pudding making it soft but holding it together.
READ MORE >>> Nut flours.
Substitution. You can swap for ground almonds or another nut or seed flour to maintain the protein content.
Sweet rice flour
This starchy flour is also known as glutinous rice flour, even though it contains no xanthan gum. It binds really well and gives the pudding a lovely bounce and great structure.
READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Sweet Rice Flour
Substitution: If you can’t have rice then you can substitute with almond flour.
Oat flour
This wholegrain flour has a mellow toasty buttery flavour and gives a light fluffy texture to our sponge pudding.
READ MORE >>> The Ultimate Guide to Oat Flour
Substitution: If you can’t have oats then you can substitute with sorghum flour.
Full list of ingredients needed
- Sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour). Do not confuse with regular rice flour.
- Oat flour. Make sure it’s gluten-free. You can substitute as above.
- Almond flour. You can substitute for ground almonds.
- Dark chocolate. This recipe uses 70% dark chocolate. However, you can use 50-60% chocolate for a softer chocolate flavour.
- Double cream. You can substitute for heavy cream.
- Golden syrup. This is a thick amber coloured inverted sugar syrup. You can substitute for corn syrup, although it won’t have quite the same flavour.
- Butter. Unsalted is the best choice here.
- Brown sugar. Gives lovely gentle molasses flavour and moisture.
- Eggs. This recipe uses medium size, about 60g each with shell (50g each without shell).
- Cocoa powder. Choose a high quality organic brand if possible.
- Vanilla extract. Use a good quality extract, I like Nilsen Massey.
- Baking powder. For rise and a tender crumb.
- Salt. I like to use kosher salt in my baking as it has a round gentle flavour. Using salt in your baked goods lifts and sharpens all the other flavours.
- Milk. Use whole milk.
How to make a Gluten-Free Chocolate Pudding
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Make a chocolate ganache. Melt the chocolate in a bain marie. Stir in the double cream and golden syrup and pour into the bottom of your prepared pudding basin. Set aside whilst you prepare the sponge.
- Make the Sponge. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla extract. Sift together the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt then beat into the rest of the sponge mixture.
- Pour the sponge mixture into the pudding basin on top of the chocolate ganache and smooth the top. Steam for 1 ½ hours.
How to steam a pudding
- Lightly grease a 1.1lt pudding basin (fitted with a small circle of baking parchment at the bottom).
- Fill your pudding basin with the batter.
- Take the same sized wide pieces of baking parchment and aluminium foil. About double the circumference of the pudding basin.
- Lay the foil on top of the parchment, then create a fold in the centre of both. This allows for this parchment/foil lid to expand during steaming.
- Place the parchment/foil lid over the top of the pudding basin and secure it just underneath the top lip of the basin with bakers twine. Cut away the excess parchment/foil.
- Place a steaming rack in the bottom of a large cooking pot/ stockpot. If you don’t have one a folded up tea towel will suffice.
- Place the pudding basin on top of the steaming rack and pour boiling water into the saucepan so that the water comes about halfway up the sides of the basin. It should not touch the parchment/foil lid.
- Turn the heat on and bring the water to a gentle simmer. Place the lid on the cooking pot to steam the pudding for as long as the recipe dictates.
- Keep checking the water level in the pot, you can top up if it boils away too much.
- When it is ready, remove the pudding basin from the pot with ovenproof gloves.
Make ahead
The chocolate pudding is at its best warm and fresh from its steaming.
However, you can make up to 3 days ahead. Allow to cool completely and store in the pudding basin, covered, in the fridge.
How to freeze
I recommend freezing the Chocolate Pudding in the pudding basin. Allow to cool completely then wrap well in both cling film and aluminium foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature.
Can you re-heat in the microwave?
It is possible to re-heat your pudding in the microwave.
Portion the pudding out into microwave appropriate bowls, cover with cling film and heat for 1 minute.
What to serve with your Chocolate Pudding
Definitely choose this Homemade Chocolate Custard. Made with double cream, eggs and sugar is a five minute job and in another world of its own. Add a bit of cocoa powder to proceedings and chocolate custard will suddenly become the most important food discovery to emerge from your kitchen since toast.
Serve your chocolate custard liberally over the chocolate pudding. I served mine with a little extra double cream poured over as well just to be audacious.
How to make Chocolate Custard
- Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cocoa powder and a drop of the cream to make a thick paste.
- Heat the cream up in a medium sized saucepan until just below boiling point.
- Pour the heated cream into the cocoa paste in a very slow gentle stream, whisking all the time to avoid curdling.
- Pour back into the saucepan and heat up until just boiling, whisking all the time.
- Remove from the heat and serve.
To avoid the hot cream scrambling your eggs, pour a splash of the hot cream into the cocoa paste whisking in immediately to temper the paste. Then continue with pouring the rest of your cream in, whisking all the while.
Alternative serving suggestions
More gluten-free desserts you'll love
- Gluten-Free Spotted Dick
- Gluten-Free School Cake
- Gluten-Free Apple Pie
- Gluten-Free Bread and Butter Pudding
- Gluten-Free Sticky Toffee Pudding with Baileys
- Bramley Apple Mincemeat Pudding
- Blackberry Lemon Pudding {gluten-free}
I urge you to give this Gluten-Free Steamed Chocolate Pudding a try. If you do then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own culinary creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
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Steamed Chocolate Pudding with Chocolate Custard {gluten-free}
Ingredients
Chocolate Sponge Pudding
- 100 g 70% dark chocolate
- 100 g double cream
- 2 teaspoons golden syrup
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 200 g soft light brown sugar
- 4 eggs - medium, see notes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 80 g almond flour
- 70 g sweet rice flour - glutinous rice flour
- 50 g oat flour
- 60 g cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Chocolate Custard
- 300 g double cream
- 100 g whole milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 75 g soft light brown sugar
- 20 g cocoa powder
Instructions
Chocolate Sponge Pudding
- Prepare a 1.1lt pudding basin by placing a small circle of greaseproof paper into the bottom of the basin and greasing well.
- Melt the chocolate in a bain marie or a bowl over a simmering saucepan of water.
- Once melted stir in the double cream and golden syrup and pour into the bottom of the pudding basin. Set aside whilst you prepare the sponge.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla extract.
- Sift together the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt then beat into the rest of the sponge mixture.
- Pour the sponge mixture into the pudding basin on top of the chocolate cream and smooth the top.
- Cut a large circle of greaseproof paper and tin foil to fit over the top of the basin with a very generous overlap. Lay the tin foil on top of the greaseproof paper then make a pleat in the centre of the two.
- Place the greaseproof paper/foil lid over the top of the basin, greaseproof paper down, and use string to secure the lid, tying the string just underneath the lip of the basin. Cut away the excess paper just underneath the string.
- Place a metal trivet or a folded up tea towel in the bottom of a large stockpot or saucepan and then place the pudding basin on top so that it doesn’t touch the bottom of the pot.
- Fill the pot halfway up the sides of the pudding basin with boiling water then place the lid on the pot. Bring the water up to boil then turn down to simmer for 1½ hours. Check the water level every so often to make sure it doesn’t boil dry.
- Once ready, remove the pudding basin carefully from the stockpot, remove the paper/foil lid and turn upside down onto a serving plate. Serve warm with plenty of custard.
Chocolate Custard
- To make the custard, first whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cocoa powder and a drop of the cream to make a thick paste.
- Heat the cream up in a medium sized saucepan until just below boiling point then pour a small amount into the cocoa paste and whisk it in. Pour a little more hot cream in and then a little more, whisking all the while until all the cream has been added and the custard is smooth.
- Pour back into the saucepan and heat up until just boiling, whisking all the time.
- Remove from the heat and serve liberally over the chocolate pudding. I served mine with a little extra double cream poured over as well just to be audacious.
Notes
Ingredient substitutions
- The eggs used in this recipe are medium size, 60g with shell and 50g without shell. If you can't get hold of medium eggs I suggest you weigh the amount.
- Almond flour. You can swap for ground almonds.
- Sweet rice flour. You can swap for cassava flour.
- Oat flour. You can swap for buckwheat flour or sorghum flour.
- Golden syrup. You can swap for corn syrup.
Delicious moist pudding. Could probably cut the cocoa back a bit, especially since it has ganache and sauce as well. We served with light lemon sorbet. A great hit!
I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it - thank you!