How To Make Steamed Syrup Sponge

Steamed sponge puddings can just as easily be made with a couple of tablespoons of jam (any flavour, but raspberry or apricot would both be perfect) instead of the golden syrup. This easy little recipe can be put together in minutes – you don’t even have to weigh the ingredients – and while it’s steaming away quietly at the back of the stove you can make dinner, eat dinner and paint your toenails by the time it’s ready.

1. Step 1:

   Grease an average-sized pudding basin or Pyrex bowl with butter or margarine (‘average’ would hold approximately 1½–2 pints/850 ml–1 litre of water) and put a circle of greaseproof paper at the bottom of the basin.

2. Step 2:

   Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the butter or margarine in small pieces and rub in the fat until the mixture resembles medium-fine breadcrumbs.

3. Step 3:

   Stir in the sugar.

4. Step 4:

   Add the egg to ½ cup of milk, whisk with a fork then pour into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients, mixing thoroughly to a smooth dropping consistency.

5. Step 5:

   Put 2 big tablespoons of golden syrup at the bottom of the pudding basin then add the sponge mixture, smoothing the top with the back of the spoon and making a slight hollow at the centre.

6. Step 6:

   Cover the pudding basin with a square of greaseproof paper and foil (greaseproof paper next to the pudding, foil on the outside) with a pleat in the middle and secure with a piece of string or Sellotape.

7. Step 7:

   Steam the pudding in a large saucepan of boiling water for about 1½ hours (the water should be about three quarters of the way up the basin) and check the level of the water every half hour or so to make sure the pan doesn’t boil dry.

8. Step 8:

   When cooked, remove the foil and greaseproof paper, hold a plate over the basin and tip it upside down so the pudding slides out onto the plate. Serve with single cream or custard.