Budino Di Cioccolato, A Velvety Chocolate Pudding

Italians, when they think of dessert, think of the local pasticceria. People will often take cakes instead of a bottle of wine when choosing a hostess gift.

Piemonte is the home of the chocolate industry, not Switzerland or Belgium as commonly thought. In Torino, the capital, you can try all sorts of hot chocolate drinks with cinnamon, liqueurs, and even coffee. Most of them have highly original combinations but occasionally you'll find one taking the easy way out and using a packet. These are generally tourist traps as well.

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Starting in 1826, Pier Paul Cafferel first produced chocolate that could be eaten or consumed as a drink. He converted an old tannery into a workshop. The only equipment available on the premises was a paddle wheel which supplied the tannery with power for the conches to mix the chocolate.

He was visited by a Swiss pastry chef called Callier who took the secrets back home with him and started the industry in Switzerland.

In 1865 Cafferal invented Gianduiotto, a mix of cocoa, sugar and hazlenuts (this description is over-simplified but you get what I mean) and a real Italian favourite. It is a wonderfully smooth chocolate, originally shaped by hand and nowadays by machine. It has a texture of chocolate that is only just set.

This recipe is very popular because it is so simple and you can use a number of different things as a garnish.

Serves 4:

• 2 tblspns butter

• 500ml thickened cream

• 200 gm chocolate (up to 70% cocoa), broken into pieces

• 1 tspn vanilla

• 1/2 cup plus I tblspn sugar

• 4 egg yolks

• 2 tblspns brandy

• 3 egg whites

• 4 savoiardi (soft Italian biscuits) Optional)

1. Butter a 20cm heatproof ceramic dish and preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Melt the chocolate in the cream in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly. Add the vanilla and mix well.

3. Beat the sugar, egg yolks and brandy and stir into the chocolate. Let cool. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry and gently fold into the chocolate mixture.

4. Pour into the dish and bake for 40 minutes or until the middle of the pudding is set.

5. Serve with savoiardi.

It can also be served with a garnish of strawberriesor raspberries or a sprinkle of coffee beans or crystalised orange rind or violets. Also chocolate scraped into flakes.