If you’ve spent any time online lately, you’ve probably seen Ina Garten’s brownie pudding making the rounds again. For good reason. It’s deeply chocolatey, somewhere between a cake and a custard, and exactly the kind of dessert that feels timeless no matter how many times it resurfaces.
Traditionally, brownie pudding is baked in a water bath to keep the texture soft and pudding-like. But when you’re using cast iron, you can usually skip that step. Cast iron’s heat retention creates a more even baking environment, which means fewer extra steps and less fuss.
For our version, we bake it directly in a No.8 Field Skillet. Instead of a full water bath, we place a small dish of water on the lower oven rack. The steam gently protects the pudding while the cast iron does the heavy lifting. Same rich, tender result. Simpler process.
Other changes we made: We added some instant coffee to bump up that deeply rich, chocolatey flavor and a big pinch of salt to balance out the sweetness here. Otherwise, we defer to queen Ina.
A Note on Skipping the Water Bath
Cast iron won’t replace a water bath in every recipe, but for pudding-style bakes like this one, it gets you most of the way there. Steady heat plus a little steam keeps the texture right where it should be.
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