Mohr im Hemd

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6 individual pudding molds or dariole molds (150-180ml each)
• •Deep roasting pan for the bain-marie
• •Heatproof bowl for melting chocolate
• •Hand mixer or stand mixer
• •Aluminum foil

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the molds

   Butter six individual pudding molds or dariole molds generously. Dust the insides with fine breadcrumbs, turning and tapping until every surface is coated, then tip out the excess. The breadcrumbs give the pudding something to grip as it rises, and they create a thin, barely-there crust when it's turned out. Don't skip this. An uncoated mold will fight you at the unmolding stage and you'll lose.

   If you don't have individual molds, one large pudding basin (1-liter capacity) works. Increase the steaming time to about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
2. 2

   Melt the chocolate

   Place the 150g of chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. The bowl should not touch the water. Stir gently until melted and smooth, then remove from the heat and let it cool until it's warm but not hot. If you pour hot chocolate into butter and egg yolks, you'll scramble them. Patience here takes thirty seconds and saves the whole pudding.

3. 3

   Cream the butter base

   In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with the sugar and Vanillezucker until light and fluffy. This takes a good three minutes with a hand mixer. You want it pale and airy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each one. The mixture should be smooth and creamy, the color of milky coffee. Now pour in the cooled melted chocolate and the rum. Fold everything together until the batter is uniformly dark. It will smell extraordinary.

   Use real Vanillezucker, not vanilla extract. Austrian baking depends on vanilla sugar for its rounded, fragrant sweetness. You can make your own by burying a split vanilla pod in a jar of caster sugar for a week.
4. 4

   Add the dry ingredients

   Fold in the ground hazelnuts and breadcrumbs by hand with a spatula. No mixer here. The hazelnuts replace most of the flour you'd find in a cake, which is why the pudding stays so moist and dense. The breadcrumbs give it just enough structure to hold together when you turn it out. The batter will be thick and rich, almost like a truffle mixture.

5. 5

   Whip and fold the egg whites

   In a separate, spotlessly clean bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff, glossy peaks. Fold a third of the whites into the chocolate batter first. Be rough with this addition. It loosens the batter so the remaining whites don't get crushed. Now fold in the rest in two additions, cutting through the center with your spatula and turning the bowl as you go. You want streaks of white to disappear without deflating the air you just beat in. This is the only leavening in the pudding. Treat it with respect.

   If you can still see a few tiny streaks of white when you stop folding, that's better than overmixing. They'll vanish in the oven. A deflated batter won't recover.
6. 6

   Fill the molds

   Divide the batter evenly among the prepared molds, filling each about three-quarters full. The puddings will rise as they steam, and an overfilled mold spills over and makes a mess of your water bath. Smooth the tops gently. Cover each mold tightly with a piece of buttered aluminum foil, butter-side down. Press the foil firmly around the rims. The seal keeps water out and traps the gentle, even heat inside.

7. 7

   Steam in the bain-marie

   Preheat your oven to 170°C (340°F). Place the covered molds in a deep roasting pan. Pour hot water into the pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the molds. This is your bain-marie, your water bath, and it's the reason this pudding works. The water keeps the temperature gentle and even on all sides, which means the chocolate cooks through without drying out or forming a crust. Carefully transfer the pan to the oven and steam for 45 to 50 minutes. The puddings are done when they feel firm to the touch through the foil and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it.

   Use a kettle to boil the water for the bain-marie before you need it. Pouring cold water into the roasting pan drops the temperature and adds time. Hot water means your puddings start steaming the moment the pan goes into the oven.
8. 8

   Make the chocolate sauce

   While the puddings steam, prepare the sauce. Chop the remaining 100g of chocolate and place it in a small saucepan with the cream, butter, and powdered sugar. Set it over low heat and stir steadily until everything melts together into a smooth, glossy sauce. Don't let it boil. You want it warm and pourable, dark and shining. If it thickens too much as it sits, add a splash of cream and stir it back.

9. 9

   Unmold and serve

   Remove the molds from the water bath and let them rest for two minutes. Peel off the foil. Run a thin knife around the inside edge of each mold, then invert onto warm plates. Give the bottom a firm tap and lift. The pudding should slide out cleanly, dark and domed, with that thin breadcrumb crust holding it all together. Pour the hot chocolate sauce over each pudding, letting it run down the sides and pool on the plate. Add a generous spoonful of cold, unsweetened Schlagobers beside it, not on top. The contrast between the warm, dark pudding and the cold white cream is the whole point. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •Buy good chocolate. This pudding has nowhere to hide, and the chocolate is the first thing you taste. Use a 70% cocoa chocolate that you'd happily eat on its own. If you wouldn't put it in your mouth as a square, don't put it in your batter.
• •Ground hazelnuts go stale faster than you'd expect. Buy whole hazelnuts and grind them yourself in a food processor if you can. You'll smell the difference the moment you open the bag versus cracking a fresh nut. Toast them lightly in a dry pan first for even more flavor.
• •The Schlagobers must be unsweetened and cold. Austrians are very specific about this. The cream is there to cut the richness of the chocolate, not to add more sweetness. Whip it just until it holds soft peaks. Stiff cream belongs on a Torte, not beside a warm pudding.
• •If you want to be traditional about the rum, use an Austrian Inländerrum or Stroh rum. It has a deeper, more caramelized flavor than Caribbean rum. A tablespoon is enough. You want a warm note in the background, not a cocktail.

Advance Preparation

• •The batter can be made and portioned into the molds up to 4 hours ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate. Add 5 minutes to the steaming time if going straight from the fridge to the oven.
• •The chocolate sauce can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat gently over low heat, adding a splash of cream to restore its pourable consistency.
• •The puddings are best served warm from the oven. They can sit in their molds for up to 10 minutes after steaming, but don't wait longer. The magic is in the temperature contrast between the warm pudding and the cold cream.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 185g)