Little Pigs of Heaven (Tocinillo de Cielo)

Put 1/2 cup sugar and 1 cup warm water in a saucepan and boil fast until a sort of thick syrup is formed; when you can lift the spoon and pull up a long, fine thread of this syrup, almost as if it were a piece of delicate string, the syrup is ready. Take it off the fire and set aside to cool. Beat the yolks of 6 eggs. When syrup is cool add eggs slowly to it, stirring constantly. Put this mixture into little fireproof (ovenproof) dishes - custard cups - glass or earthenware. Stand these in a big saucepan with water halfway up the sides of the little dishes. Be very careful about this, or when the water starts to boil it will bubble up and get into your pigs. Do not cover the pan.

Keep the water boiling, but not too furiously. When the dessert seems firm (test it with a knife), remove the little dishes. Wear a cooking glove to do this, or use tongs. Leave them to cool off. Then turn them out of their dishes (run a warmed knife round their edges and turn them upside down on a platter). Pour warm chocolate sauce over them. For this, either use a ready-made one or make it by dissolving plain eating chocolate in a cup of boiling water and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, but no sugar. Heat this slowly, stirring all the time. (Or you could use golden syrup, heated.) When hot, but not boiling, pour over the Little Pigs of Heaven.