Awesome winter dessert recipe

Posted by Bel. The time is 6:56pm here in Wellington, NZ.

As soon as the weather turns crap, I start craving my mum's chocolate pud. It's of the self-saucing variety and is awesome. Here's the recipe she emailed through to me:

Self saucing chocolate pudding

4 oz margarine (or butter)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups self raising flour (or add 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder well mixed into flour)
4 dessertspoons cocoa (you may need more, today's cocoa is wimpy)
Some sultanas or raisins as you wish
vanilla ( 1 small teaspoon if desired)

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, add milk, and add the flour, BP, cocoa and raisins (already mixed together)
Place in ovenware dish.

Mix together 1/2 cup sugar and 3 dessertspoons cocoa, sprinkle over the mixture.
Gently pour over 3 cups of boiling water (use bowl of spoon to deflect the force)
Do not stir, cook 30 mins in moderate oven or 6 etc mins in microwave.

I did a half batch for starters and it served four people reasonable portions (i.e. measly really, when all you want to do is pig out on the hot chocolatey gooey goodness). And also cold choc pud is the breakfast of champions, if you don't believe me then ask my two little brothers - both clocking in at over six foot.

One tip I would give, doyenne of cuisine that I am, is to "slather" rather than "sprinkle" the topping mixture and to not be hesitant about pouring the water over top before you put it in the over. It seems counterintuitive to tip cups of water all over your carefully prepared concoction - but this is what helps make the saucy sauce!

Also, I'm not quite sure if Mum actually means you should cook it for "6 etc minutes" in the microwave, for surely even the most nuclear powered of modern kitchenware would not be capable of this..?

Anyhoo... enjoy!