Chocolate Budino from Cat Cora

I don't know if you can tell - but there's chocolate oozing over the top crumbs. There would have been more chocolate seeping onto the plate if I served these right out of the oven (recommended). But I am expedient. When people are over, I do all ahead of time. Except take pictures. There were impatient people waiting for these delectables. I needed to get all the photos done in the time it takes for everyone at the table to make fun of Claudia and her pictures of food.

So, the photos are not splendifrous - I tried. There's irony here but you will see that in a few minutes.

These chocolate pillows are from Cat Cora. Who is Cat Cora? Never heard of her until this week. It's that not-TV-watching thing that snags me again. (All right! I confess, I watched Downton Abbey. Nobody does soap opera better than the Brits.)

Bundino means "pudding" in Italian - and they are almost like a British steamed plum pudding. Except they're not British and they're not steamed. They are irresistible. I baked small ones in muffin tins (everyone's on a diet for swimsuit season). And everyone ate 2 or 3. Small bites, right? It's always fun to fool yourself.

Cat Cora is best known for her featured role in Iron Chef (someday will watch). She's easy to spot - she's the woman. And she is #48 on Gourmet's Female Game-Changers in Food. Born in Mississippi to a Greek-American family of restaurateurs, Cora got the cooking bug early. She may have gone to college for Exercise Physiology and Biology, but after graduating she headed to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY to pursue her love of food.

(Cat Cora 2010, photo from Wikipedia)

Her accomplishments are varied and considerable. She co-founded Chefs for Humanity "a grassroots coalition of chefs and culinary professionals guided by a mission to quickly be able to raise funds for important emergency and humanitarian aid, nutritional education and hunger-related initiatives throughout the world."

On the flip side of the coin, she had a voice role in a video game Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine.  And if the coin had a third side you'd find that she has partnered with Disney producing videos about helping and teaching families to cook together. In 2010, she created webisodes with the Muppets (specifically a spicy Italian Muppet named Angelo) that centered on the joys and health benefits of cooking as a family.

Yes, she has cookbooks, kitchenware and some lovely recipes. Read more about Cat Cora at her website.

More of a molten cake than a pudding, this is simple (my mantra) and is simply velvet night.

Chocolate Budino (makes 12 Budini or one large Budino) Ingredients
1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate cut into small chunks (I used Sharffen-Berger chunks)
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks (which gave me an egg white omelette the next day - points for being thrifty & virtuous)
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
12 tablespoons unsalted butter - softened

Preparation
Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Grease or spray a 9-inch cake pan or muffin tin.

Place the chocolate over the top pan of a double boiler set over gently simmering water. Stir till melted.

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, eggs yolks, sugar and flour until well -incorporated.

When the chocolate has melted, remove pan from heat and add butter, mixing until all is a deep brown and smooth. Add the egg mixture into the chocolate (I did the opposite) mixing well. Pour into prepared pans. If using muffin tins, fill half-way. (Which I did but next time I would fill them 3/4).

Bake 18-20 minutes if using a cake pan and only 11-12 minutes if using a muffin tin. You will see the edges start to pull away from the pan. Remove from oven and cool for ten minutes. To serve, place a pan over the in or cake pan and turn upside down. Quickly turn it back onto your serving platter. It is best served warm but I got the happy sighs when I served it at room temperature.

I served it with double Devonshire clotted cream and berries.

Remember how I complained over not taking good photos?

After the dinner ended, Kirsten came home stressed from work ("stress" being the predominant gene in this family).

"Chocolate! I need chocolate!" She popped a chocolate-muffin-budino is her mouth and then slathered cream on the last two.

She didn't care how it looked.

And then she covered it with raspberries and it looked better than my rendition that I like to think I did with care.

Go figure.

My "Project" continues to grow. I think it's the spot from the Cat in the Hat. And when chocolate is not readily available, this has been a grand week for looking out my window.

Check out what the other bloggers are doing to honor this week's game-changer Cat Cora and if you want to join in the fun, e-mail Mary at One Perfect Bite. Mary started this delectable journey.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast, Joanne - Eats Well With Others, Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed

Susan - The Spice Garden, Heather - girlichef,

Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney, Jeanette - Healthy Living, 

Mary - One Perfect Bite, Kathleen - Bake Away with Me

Sue - The View from Great Island, Barbara - Movable Feasts

Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds, 

Linda A - There and Back Again, 

Mireya - My Healthy Eating Habits, Veronica - My Catholic Kitchen

Annie - Most Lovely Things, Alyce - More Time at the Table; Amrita- Beetle's Kitchen Escapades
Jill - Saucy Cooks, Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink

Martha - Simple Nourished Living