I first saw this recipe on Masterchef Australia and I was in shock with the result and definitely didn't expect it to be this good. And after that, I begin to trust every recipe by Matt Preston. Jokes aside, out of the whole Masterchef universe, "the Australia one" is my absolute favourite. The contestants, the entire dynamic of the show, the recipes, the guest chef, everything is perfect. It feels real and not fake, unlike the Masterchef US. 

Though I am really sad that the original judges will not be returning to the show this season. It's sad. I can't imagine the show without them. 

Back on the recipe, this recipe is super simple and novice-proof. Everyone can do it. The most bizarre part is pouring boiling hot water over the batter. Even the contestants were in shock. How could I not? It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen in baking. But it's genius. 

With all the self-isolation situation going on, I've been baking different things almost every day. Filming and photographing all of them is a pain, unfortunately. I even forgot to take a proper photo of this recipe. Because you have to consume this as soon as it's out of the oven. 

I usually top this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream but this time the ice-cream was substituted with plain cream because it's corona time. Here we believe if you eat cold things you'll get a sore throat, at least I always do. So we skip the ice-cream. 

This time I used a wider tray instead of a narrow loaf pan, that's why there wasn't much self-saucing situation. Usually, there is a layer of sauce in the bottom, under the top cake layer. 

Apparently, the genius technique for the self-saucing is based on a recipe in a vintage cookbook from Victoria, Australia. Whoever you are, thank you.

ingredients
1 cup (150g) self-raising flour or all-purpose flour + 2 tsp baking powder
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
1/2 cup (50gr) cocoa powder
60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup (125g) milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
vanilla ice-cream or thickened cold cream to serve


method
preheat the oven to 160C. Grease a loaf pan or a wide rectangular ovenproof baking dish. to be honest, my favourite is a loaf pan. it makes the pudding saucier.

sift the flour (if it's not self-raising add the baking powder), 1/2 cup (110g) sugar and 1/4 (25) cocoa into a bowl and stir to combine. make a well in the centre.

in a separate bowl, whisk melted butter, milk, vanilla extract and egg. gradually pour into the well and fold to combine.

spread mixture evenly into prepared dish. combine remaining 1/2 cup (110g) sugar and 1/4 cup (25g) cocoa and sprinkle over the top of the pudding.

carefully, pour 1 cup (250ml) boiling water over the top of the pudding as seen in the video.

bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is firm. when i use a loaf pan, i bake the batter for 30 minutes.
if i bake it 35 minutes, then there won't be any sauce in the bottom. for this wide dish, i only baked it for 25 minutes and i wish i would've take it out of the oven after 20 minutes. if you watch the video, usually there is more sauce in the bottom. just saying. use a smaller pan with more depth and bake it 30 minutes top.

serve it with vanilla ice-cream or some cool thickened cream. both work great.