BLACKBERRY AND GINGER HAT

Preparation 30 minutes

Cooking 1 hour 40 minutes

Serves 6 This is lighter than traditional versions as it uses butter instead of suet.

300g blackberries

115g caster sugar, plus

1 tbsp 115g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

115g self-raising flour, sifted

½ tsp baking powder

50g ground almonds

1 tbsp milk

2 balls stem ginger, diced

2 tbsp creme de mure

1 Put the blackberries and 1 tbsp sugar into a small pan and cook for 5-10 minutes until softened – if you prefer a finer texture, push the mixture through a sieve, otherwise set aside to cool.

2 Grease a 1-litre pudding basin with butter and put in half the cooled fruit. Cut out a rectangle each of foil and greaseproof paper large enough to cover the basin, then fold across the middle to form a pleat (to allow the pudding to expand during cooking). Set aside.

3 Put the remaining butter and caster sugar into a bowl and mix with electric hand beaters until fluffy and lighter in colour. Beat in the eggs, beating well between additions, then the vanilla.

4 Fold in the rest of the ingredients except the liqueur, then turn into the basin. Put the foil and greaseproof paper on top, with the foil uppermost, and tie around the rim with string. Trim paper and foil so it doesn’t touch the water.

5 Put the pudding in a large pan sitting on an upturned saucer and fill with enough boiling water to come halfway up the basin side. Cover and simmer for 1½ hours, checking the water level from time to time.

6 Stir the liqueur into the remaining blackberries and heat until warm.

7 Loosen the edges of the pudding with a roundbladed knife and turn out onto a plate. Pour the sauce over the top. Serve with custard or cream.