Māori-style burnt sugar steamed pudding

To prepare you will need 1 large oven bag (if doing in a hāngī machine).

Once the batter is made, put the mixture into an oven bag and put on the top layer of the hāngī (you can put it in a tin or just use the bag), and steam in the machine for 2 hours and 30 minutes (or more if needed).

Usually, when the steamed pudding is cooked on top, the hāngī is also ready. Remove the oven bag from the hāngī machine, take the pudding out, and serve with custard and runny cream.

Alternatively, use 1 large pot that will fit a large tin (fruit salad or Milo tin) with water. It will need enough room for water to create steam, and not too much room for the pudding tin to move around.

Put water (5-6 litres) in your pot and start to bring to the boil. Line your tin with baking paper, and put the cake batter mixture into the tin and cover with tin foil, then put in the pot with water and cover with lid to steam for 2 hours.

Remove tin foil and poke with a skewer – if it comes out clean, it’s ready. Remove from the tin and peel off baking paper. Serve with custard and runny cream.

Dry ingredients

■ 21⁄2 cups of flour (self-raising)

■ 11⁄2 cups of sugar (caster)

■ 1 teaspoon baking soda

■ 2 teaspoons of mixed spice

Wet ingredients

■ 250g butter (salted) cubed soft

■ 3 eggs (beaten)

Burnt sugar syrup

■ 5 tablespoons of caster sugar

■ 1 cup of water

To make the syrup, put sugar into a pot and start to golden/burn it. Add water to make a homemade golden syrup. Put aside to add last into mixture.

Sieve all dry ingredients, then rub the butter into the dry mix. Make a well to add the beaten eggs, and mix well together.

Add the burnt sugar syrup. You should have a smooth, runny cake batter mix. Use in either pot technique, or ha¯ng¯ı oven bag technique.

Homemade butterscotch sauce

■ 50g butter

■ 50g demerara sugar

■ 1 cup of cream

Melt the butter in a pot and add the sugar. Once combined and it has a golden caramel look, add cream and whisk until combined and smooth. Serve on top of the steam pudding with whipped cream.