Comforting Caramel Puddings

Puddings like these, which make their own sauce as they bake, are among my favourites. With a soft, cakey top and a sweet sauce that thickens and bubbles away underneath, they are warm, gooey and comfortingly delicious. Served with a dollop of naturally thick cream and they are even better!

Mmm ... sweet self-saucing caramel puddings. 

I made this version of a caramel self-saucing pudding for the first time recently. I followed Donna Hay's recipe but reduced the amount of sugar, in both the cake and the sauce, to lessen the sweetness somewhat. I also used spelt flour instead of plain flour as that is what I generally cook with. They still turned out beautifully!  Here's the recipe with my adjustments:

Self-Saucing Caramel Puddings
** not suitable for those with a nut allergy**

Cake Mix:
75g melted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup almond meal 
1 cup white spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sauce:
50g butter
1 cup  brown sugar
1 1/2 cups water

1.  Preheat oven to 160C and lightly grease 6 x 250ml capacity ramekins.

2.  Make the sauce by putting butter, brown sugar and water into a saucepan. Stir over a 
     medium heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool while you 
     make the cake batter.

3.  Place all the cake mix ingredients into a large bowl and mix until well combined.

4.  Spoon cake mixture evenly into the six ramekins.

5.  Pour the caramel sauce over the top of each pudding (I transferred the sauce to a 
     heatproof jug and poured it very slowly over the back of a spoon and onto the top of each
     pudding.)

6.  Bake for 30mins.

7.  Allow puddings to stand, for at least 5-10minutes, to allow sauce time to thicken more.

8.  Serve with a big dollop of the freshest, thickest cream you can find:) 

While we've had some hot Summer-like days already this Spring, many nights have still been cooler so perfect for a warm and comforting pudding like this one. Its nutty sweetness and gooey sauce will see you scraping every last little bit you can out from your own little ramekin.

Have a lovely weekend!
Meg

p.s. I found my little ramekins at the local op-shop. The set cost me just a few dollars and I think they are as sweet as this pudding.