It has been a cool spring so far, winter seems to be hanging on rather, so a comforting warm pudding seemed like a good idea. I rather fancied a ginger pudding, to be eaten with lots of hot custard, very English. Trouble is, most of these sorts of puds are steamed, sometimes for quite a while, and that was rather more than I wanted to be bothered with. However, I came across a recipe that could either be steamed or microwaved. I’ll try the microwave method then; I don’t use the microwave for actual cooking very often
The Recipe:
| 125 g /4 oz/1 cup all-purpose (plain) flour |
| 1 tsp baking powder |
| 1 large egg |
| 62 g/2 oz/¼ cup butter or margarine, at room temperature |
| 60 ml/ 2 fl oz/¼ cup milk, warmed |
| 2 tbsp brown sugar |
| 80 ml/2¾ fl oz/⅓ cup molasses |
| 2 tsp (or to taste) ground ginger |
Sift the flour, baking powder, brown sugar and ginger into a bowl.
Place the milk and molasses into a microwaveable jug and microwave for 30 seconds. Mix together well and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Chop the butter into small amounts and rub into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Lightly beat the egg with a fork, then add this to the flour mixture and mix in.
Slowly mix in the molasses mixture and beat until smooth. Transfer into a microwaveable bowl.
Microwave for 4-5 minutes, the sponge is ready when a knife or skewer comes out clean.
Alternatively, place the mixture in a covered bowl and place it in a steamer for 1 hour.
A microwaved sponge always has a slightly different texture to a steamed or baked sponge, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results. There was plenty of sponge to match with custard, and half is in the fridge for today’s dinner. If I was to make it again, I think I would increase the ginger a little, as it was quite mild in this version.
The Pudding Queen 