Chocolate Steamed Pudding

This is a moist, dense, chocolate cake. It is a very good, and an old-fashioned recipe. It is my dad's and brother's favorite dessert, and usually, someone will make it for them on their birthdays. It requires the use of a 4-cup mold of some sort. You can use one like is in the photos, or you can simply use a small casserole dish. You will want to cover it with a double layer of heavy-duty foil if you don't have a cover for the mold, so no steam gets inside.

Place the mold on top of a rack, inside a large stock pot. I used a metal steamer basket.

Allow cake to cool for about 10 minutes inside the mold, then remove it and allow to cool on a wire rack.

See how creamy the hard sauce gets? I don't know why it is called hard sauce, because it is actually a very thick frosting - almost tastes like the frosting on wedding cakes. At any rate, this stuff is so good!

Printable Recipe


1 egg
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter, softened
2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup milk

Cream the egg, sugar, butter and chocolate, until fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, soda and cream of tartar. Beat into the chocolate mixture, alternately with the milk. Beat until smooth. Pour into a greased 1 - quart mold, or casserole dish.

Cover the mold or casserole dish, very tightly, with foil, Place inside a large pot, on top of a rack. Add enough water so that it is halfway up the mold. Bring water to a quick boil, then reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and steam for 2 hours. You may have to check to make sure there is still water in the pot, during the cooking time. When done, loosen the edges with a knife, and cool in dish for at least 10 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Serve with Creamy Hard Sauce.


This doesn't make a whole lot, so you might want to double this

Creamy Hard Sauce

1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup pwd sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk

Cream the butter, thoroughly. Slowly add the pwd sugar, and beat until it is as light as whipped cream. (Note: this will take a while, and you might think it will never fully incorporate, but it will, with time.) Beat in the vanilla and milk, drop by drop, until light and fluffy.