I’ve been making this dessert for more than 10 years. There’s a few recipes that fall into that category, so this is going to be the first in a little trip down memory lane.
This recipe came into my repertoire through a mum in my mother’s group. I had an awesome mother’s group, we were open and honest with each other, and met up twice a week for years. While we have all drifted to different parts of Sydney, interstate and even overseas it was a group of women I will always be grateful for having in my life.
I talked about this on ABC radio in a discussion about comfort food. You can hear my dulcet tones here.

Chocolate Sludge
- 1 cup plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1 tblsp butter, melted
- 1/2 cup milk
- Optional: 3/4 cup pecans or walnuts and 1/2 cup choc chips
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa
- 1 cup boiling water
- Preheat your oven to 160C and grease a smallish baking dish (mine is 27cm x 18cm)
- Mix together the flour, baking powder, caster sugar and cocoa (and the optional nuts/choc chips)
- Stir in the butter and milk – the batter will be very thick so don’t be alarmed
- Scrape the mixture into the dish and spread it around
- Combine the brown sugar and cocoa and scatter over the top of the batter
- Pour the boiling water over the mix and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the pudding is set and there’s thick sauce bubbling up around the edges.
Beautiful with ice cream, cream, custard or all of them quite frankly.

