THE SWEET SPOT
The TASTE team’s selection of steamed puddings include family favourites inspired by the likes of Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Donna Hay. Serve hot with custard or cream and no judgement.
Old-school or not, few things will warm those cockles on a cold night more effectively than a hot – preferably steamed – pudding. We asked the TASTE team for their most cherished family recipes, including “telephone” pudding,
a fancy bread-and-butter and Jamie's orange-chocolate surprise
Steaming a whole orange
in the pudding results in this deliciously gooey marmalade”
Add nuts or chocolate, or anything you like. Raisin bread also works well”
NIGELLA’S GRAN’S GINGER-JAM BREADAND-BUTTER PUDDING
“Bread pudding – the ordinary, comforting, custardy version made with white bread, raisins and smooth apricot jam – was a huge winter family favourite when I was growing up. These days, I like to indulge my love of ginger jam and marmalade (both are alternatives in this recipe) with Nigella Lawson’s grown-up version made with brown bread, cream – and rum if I have it (brandy also works).” – Michelle Coburn
Serves 6 to 8
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 15 minutes Cooking: 1 hour
sultanas 50 g (optional) dark rum 3 T (optional) brioche loaf 1, sliced unsalted butter 8 T, softened ginger preserve or marmalade 12 T (or 6 T of each) free-range egg yolks 4 free-range egg 1 sugar 3T cream 2 cups milk 1 cup, plus 2 T ground ginger ½t ground cinnamon ½t ground cardamom ½t Demerara or brown sugar 2T custard, for serving
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a shallow 25 cm baking dish with a little butter. If you’re using the rum, place the sultanas in a small bowl, pour over the rum and microwave for 1 minute, then leave to stand. 2 Make sandwiches using the brioche loaf, butter and preserve or marmalade (2 T in each sandwich); you should have some butter left over to smear the tops later. Cut the sandwiches in half into triangles and arrange them evenly along the middle of the dish.
Put one in the dish with the point-side uppermost and so on, then squeeze a sandwich-triangle down each side. Sprinkle with the sultanas and unabsorbed rum (if using) that remains in the bowl. 3 Whisk the egg yolks and egg together with the sugar, and mix in the cream, milk and spices. Pour over the bread and leave them to soak up the liquid for about 10 minutes, by which time the pudding is ready to go into the oven. Smear the bread crusts that are poking out of the custard with the soft butter, sprinkle the Demerara sugar on the buttered crusts and then lightly over the rest of the pudding. 4 Place the dish on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the custard has set and puffed up slightly. Remove, allow to stand for 10 minutes, by which time the puffiness will have deflated somewhat, and spoon out into bowls. Serve with custard on the side.
Cook’s note: This is a great way to use up any leftover bread. Add some nuts or chocolate or whatever you have. Raisin bread is a great alternative if you can’t find brioche or sultanas.
APPLE CHARLOTTE
“The key to this pudding is the bowl in which you steam it. It should have steep sides so the pudding doesn't collapse when you turn it out. Also make sure that there are no gaps in the bread, press it down firmly to make a crust.” – Hannah Lewry
Serves 4
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 45 minutes Cooking: 1 hour
Granny Smith apples 6–8 (450 g after peeling and coring) butter 25 g caster sugar 1T ground mixed spice 2t butter 100 g, melted white bread 6–8 thick slices, crusts removed and cut in half (rectangles and circles for the base) free-range egg yolk 1 icing sugar, for dusting toffee sauce, for serving 1 Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Rinse them in cold water and place in a saucepan with the butter, caster sugar and mixed spice. Cook over a low heat until soft enough to beat into a chunky purée. Allow to cool. 2 Brush the crustless rectangles of bread with melted butter on both sides. Line a
1-litre pudding bowl with the buttered bread, overlapping it and allowing no gaps. Press in firmly. 3 When the apple purée has cooled, beat in the egg yolk. Fill the lined pudding bowl with the mixture and top with the remaining bread. Weight down with a small saucepan or bowl and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
4 Place the pudding bowl (with the weight still on it) in the oven on a baking tray and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the weight and bake for a further 10 minutes to brown on top. 5 Allow the pudding to settle in the bowl for a few minutes after removing from the oven, then invert onto a warm plate to serve. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar and warm toffee sauce.
TELEFOON PUDDING
“My paternal grandmother, Ouma Oumie, used to make this on special occasions.
It’s such a great dessert for winter – saucy, spongy and all those warming winter flavours! I only recently learned that this is quite a common Afrikaans dessert, and it comes from the days when people had party lines that were connected through the ‘ sentrale’ phone system in the platteland, when the recipe would be passed on ‘over the phone’ from cook to cook. A true communal recipe!”
– Jeanne Calitz
Serves 6 to 8
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 40 minutes Cooking: 1 hour
butter 2T sugar 200 g free-range egg 1 flour 180 g milk ½ cup ground ginger 1t ground mixed spice 1t ground cinnamon 1t
bicarbonate of soda 1t apricot jam 1T custard or butterscotch sauce, for serving
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg, then add the remaining ingredients. 2 Place 3 cups boiling water and 300 g sugar in a 23 x 30 cm ovenproof dish.
Stir until melted. 3 Pour the pudding mixture into the liquid – do not stir.
Bake for 1 hour. 4 Serve with custard or butterscotch sauce.
CHOCOLATE-AND-WHOLE ORANGE PUDDING
“As a child, I hated chocolate-and-orange combinations until my mom started making this pudding by Jamie Oliver. The process of steaming a whole orange IN the chocolate pudding results in this deliciously gooey, marmaladey situation that will convert any chocolate-orange sceptic.
It’s since become a well-loved staple in our family, one that appears at nearly all special occasions, served with lashings of warm custard.” – Jess Spiro
Serves 6 to 8
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 40 minutes Cooking: 2 hours
butter 85 g good-quality dark chocolate 55 g self-raising flour 170 g cocoa 55 g caster sugar 170 g free-range eggs 2 milk 2T custard or cream, for serving
For the filling: orange 1 (preferably a thin-skinned navel variety) butter 60 g caster sugar 40 g 1 Bring enough water to cover the orange to the boil in a saucepan (in which you are later going to steam your pudding). Add the whole orange and boil fast for at least 10 minutes with the lid on. Meanwhile, grease a 1.3 litre pudding bowl. 2 Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Put the flour and cocoa into a mixing bowl; add the melted butter and chocolate, then the sugar, eggs and milk and mix well. 3 Put about two-thirds of the mixture into the pudding bowl, making a well in the middle. By this time the orange should have been boiling for about 10 minutes and the peel should be nice and soft. Remove it carefully from the water. 4 Prick the orange all over with a fork or skewer and place it in the middle of the pudding mixture. You can (with care, as it’s still hot) cut the orange into segments if you want to check for seeds or cut off the stringy bits of orange in the middle, then put it back together again (it does make it easier for serving), but it’s not necessary. 5 Dice the butter and dot it round the orange with the caster sugar, then cover with the remaining pudding mixture. Cover the pudding with wax paper, then with aluminum foil. Bring 1 litre water to the boil in the saucepan you boiled the orange in. Place the pudding in the saucepan (the water should come halfway up the sides of the basin) and steam for 2 hours. Don’t forget to check now and then to see if the water needs to be topped up.
6 Turn the pudding out onto a serving dish and serve with custard or cream.
DELIA’S MELTING CHOCOLATE PUDDINGS
“When Delia Smith’s How to Cook first aired on television, I was in standard 5 and the whole family watched in rapt attention. I distinctly remember learning how to cook eggs during that show. When the books made it to South Africa, we bought them all. One day, my older brother attempted the chocolate fondant and it instantly became our go-to dessert for entertaining. My parents have friends who still ask if it’ll be served for pudding when they’re invited over. We’ve done a gluten-free one, too – it works well because the actual volume of flour used is so small, so it’s not very much affected.” – Katharine Pope
Serves 8
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 45 minutes Cooking: 12 minutes
75% dark chocolate 200 g, broken into pieces butter 200 g, diced brandy 2 T (optional) caster sugar 110 g large free-range eggs 4 free-range egg yolks 4 vanilla extract 1½ t flour 60 g cream, vanilla or chocolate ice cream, for serving
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C and brush 8 ramekins with melted butter (see cook’s note). Place the chocolate, butter and brandy (if using) in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Allow the chocolate and butter to melt slowly.
2 Place the sugar, eggs, yolks and vanilla extract into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric beater until the mixture has doubled in volume, 5–10 minutes. It should leave a trail like a ribbon. 3 Pour in the melted chocolate and fold to combine. Sift in the flour and gently fold together using a large metal spoon. Divide the mixture between the prepared ramekins and place on a baking tray. 4 Bake on the centre shelf of the oven for 12 minutes. The puddings should rise and feel fairly firm to the touch. Allow to stand for 1 minute, then turn out onto plates. Serve hot with cream or ice cream.
Cook’s notes: Make the mixture in the morning to save time later. Brush the ramekins with melted butter in an upward stroke to help the fondants rise Mix 2 T caster sugar and 1 t cocoa powder and use to dust the ramekins before baking. This ensures they’ll rise well.
This pudding will convert any chocolate-orange sceptic”
The melting chocolate puddings work well with glutenfree flour”
STICKY DATE PUDDING
“This is the most comforting, warm sticky dessert inspired by Donna Hay. I love it served with Madagascan vanilla ice cream, but custard will also do, or just as it is. It reminds me of Christmas, in a very good way.” – Jacqueline Burgess
Serves 6 to 8
EASY
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 40 minutes Cooking: 2 hours
fresh dates 225 g, pitted bicarbonate of soda 1t boiling water ½ cup unsalted butter 70 g, chopped and softened dark brown sugar 135 g vanilla extract 1t free-range eggs 4 self-raising flour 110 g, sifted ground almonds 90 g ground mixed spice ½t ground cinnamon ½t ground cardamom ½t custard or vanilla ice cream, for serving
For the spiced rum-and-maple glaze: maple syrup or honey ½ cup spiced rum ½ cup (optional) vanilla extract 1t cardamom pods 5 cinnamon stick 1 star anise 2
1 Line the base of a well-greased 1.75-litre metal pudding bowl with baking paper. Set aside. Place the dates, bicarbonate of soda and water in a large jug and set aside for 10 minutes to soften. Blend until smooth using a handheld blender. 2 Place the butter, brown sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 4–5 minutes, or until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 3 Add the flour, ground almonds, spices and date mixture and beat at a low speed until just combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pudding bowl. Top with a circle of nonstick baking paper, cover with aluminium foil and tie with kitchen string to secure. 4 Place the bowl in a large saucepan over a low heat and fill with boiling water until it reaches three-quarters up the sides of the bowl. Cover and cook for 2 hours, adding more boiling water if necessary. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and allow to stand for 15 minutes. 5 Meanwhile, make the spiced rum-and-maple glaze. Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan over a high heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 5–6 minutes, or until thickened and reduced. 6 Carefully turn the pudding out onto a plate and spoon over the glaze. Serve with custard or ice cream.