Double Size Chocolate Pear Pudding

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Pear Pudding (from NIGELLA EXPRESS) is a chocolate sponge studded with pears. The pudding is baked in a 22cm (8 1/2-inch) square ovenproof dish and serves 6-8 people. If you wish to make a double quantity then we would suggest splitting the pears and the batter between two of these square dishes rather then trying to bake one large version. Very large cakes can be difficult to bake and there is a risk that the centre of the cake does not cook through properly while the edges become over cooked and dry. You could buy some square foil pans to make the puddings in if you need an extra pan.

We don't recommend baking the sponge in advance and reheating it as the sponge can dry out on reheating. But it is very quick to blitz the sponge batter in a food processor and you could put the puddings in the oven as you sit down for your main course. We suggest making the chocolate sauce from Nigella's Flourless Brownies With Hot Chocolate Sauce to serve with the pudding and it is easy to make a double quantity of this. This sauce can be made 2 hours in advance and left at room temperature. Rewarm the sauce very gently just before serving. You may find it easiest to do this by putting the sauce in a heatproof bowl and setting the bowl over a saucepan of hot water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.