School Dinner Chocolate Concrete with Pink Custard 🍫💖
A true British school dinner staple! Chocolate concrete is a crisp, chocolate-laced traybake, best enjoyed alongside warm, sweet pink custard—a true throwback to childhood favourites.
🛒 Ingredients:
For the chocolate concrete:
🌾 Plain flour: 200g
🍫 Cocoa powder: 50g
🍬 Caster sugar: 150g
🧈 Unsalted butter: 150g, melted
🥄 Egg: 1, beaten
🥄 Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
For the pink custard:
🥛 Whole milk: 500ml
🌽 Cornflour: 50g
🍬 Caster sugar: 75g
🥄 Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
🍓 Strawberry or raspberry flavouring: ½ tsp
🌸 Pink food colouring: A few drops
👨🍳 Method:
1️⃣ 🔥 Preheat your oven – Heat to 180°C (fan 160°C) and lightly grease a baking tray roughly 20cm x 20cm in size.
2️⃣ 🍫 Prepare the concrete – In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, and sugar. Stir in the melted butter, then add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Mix until it comes together as a stiff dough.
3️⃣ 🧱 Press and bake – Firmly press the dough into your prepared tray, packing it down well to create that iconic “concrete” feel. Bake for 20 minutes, then take it out and let it cool a little—it’ll harden as it cools.
4️⃣ 🥛 Create the pink custard – Warm 400ml of the milk in a saucepan. In a separate bowl, whisk the cornflour and sugar together with the remaining 100ml of milk to form a smooth paste.
5️⃣ 🌸 Thicken it up – Gradually pour the paste into the warm milk, stirring all the while. Keep stirring gently over a medium heat until thickened. Add the vanilla, flavouring, and a few drops of pink colouring.
6️⃣ 🍽️ Dish up – Break the chocolate concrete into squares and serve it with a generous helping of warm pink custard poured on top.
⏱️ Cooking Info:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8 squares
Calories: ~350 per serving
Crunchy, chocolatey, and paired with silky pink custard—this dessert is pure school dinner bliss! 🍫💖