This was possibly the best news I could ever receive as a kid – that Dolly had made us chocolate bombe for pudding. You just have to try it and of course kids love it, as one of seven grandchildren, there was definitely never any left for the adults to have.

Ingredients

0.75pt double cream

1 oz caster sugar

grated chocolate for decoration

For the mousse filling

6 oz plain chocolate (bournville)

1 oz butter

6 egg yolks

6 egg whites

A 1.5 litre / 3 pt domed pudding basin as a mould and a china or oven glass basin.

Method

Lightly whip cream with sugar and spoon all at once into the basin. Using the back of a spoon, spread the cream evenly to line the inside of the basin. Place in the freezer to set firm while preparing the filling.

Break the chocolate into a basin, set over a saucepan half filled with hot (not boiling) water and add the butter, stirring occasionally until it has all melted. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture and stir to blend. Remove from heat. Stiffly beat the egg whites and with a metal spoon fold gently but evenly into the mixture to make a chocolate mousse. Pour into the cream lined basin, replace in the freezer and leave overnight until the mixture has frozen hard. About 2 hours before serving, un-mould the pudding by dipping the basin in cold water, loosen with a palette knife. Turn our and refrigerate (leaving to thaw) cover with cream and chocolate curls.