Date night has definitely become more of a ‘thing’ since lockdown began. Whether it be the need for something special to look forward to break the monotony, or an event to help distinguish the weekend from every other day of the week, or simply the extra time at home to spend in the kitchen.. lockdown seems to be encouraging us all to get creative and make a meal of our evenings.

For me, a date night definitely needs some sort of chocolate pudding, but also needs to be as stress-free as possible so there is the chance to properly relax, chat and enjoy the company you are blessed with. These puddings are seriously decadent but can be prepared hours or days in advance and simply shoved in the oven minutes before you want to get stuck in.

Serves 2

50g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease

50g dark chocolate, at least 70% solids

1 egg and 1 egg yolk

50g caster sugar

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp coffee liqueur

1 tsp instant coffee

Method

Grease two 200ml ramekins with butter.

Dice the butter, break the chocolate into pieces, and put them into a heatproof bowl. Gently melt them together on a low heat in the microwave, or over a pan of boiling water, then set aside to cool.

Put the egg, egg yolk and sugar into a large bowl and use an electric mixer to whisk them together for several minutes until thick and pale.

Sift the flour into the egg mixture and gently fold it through.

Add the coffee liqueur and instant coffee to the chocolate and butter, stir well to dissolve the coffee and then gently fold it all through the egg mix taking care not to knock out the air.

Pour the mix into the ramekins and transfer to the fridge, or wrap well in cling film and freeze for up to a month.

When you are ready to cook them, preheat the oven to 200, and put a baking tray in the oven to heat up.

When the oven is hot, place the ramekins on the tray and bake for 15 minutes from chilled, 17 minutes from frozen or 13 minutes if they haven’t been chilled.

Remove from the oven, put the ramekins on a small plate, dollop on some vanilla ice cream or pour over a drizzle of double cream and dig in.

Heaven in a pot.