food hits and misses

Mr Cake O'Clock has signed up to run a half marathon tomorrow. Madness, I know. But on the positive side, running that far requires carbo loading. And carbo loading means pudding. I have no excuse for eating it, but am not going to let that stop me.

Self-saucing puddings are incredibly straight forward to make. They're so simple in fact, that it's beyond me why anyone bothers buying packet mixes. This one is a fusion of quite a few different recipes from taste.com.au.

Apple and butterscotch pudding

4 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 tbspn golden syrup
1 tspn vanilla essence

Butterscotch sauce

1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tspn cornflour
1/4 cup golden syrup
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 2 litre casserole dish or pudding basin. Place chopped apple in base of the dish. Sift together flour and baking powder. Add remaining pudding ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour over apples. Combine the brown sugar and cornflour and sprinkle over the pudding batter. Mix together the golden syrup, vanilla essence and boiling water. Gently pour over the sugar mixture. Bake 45 minutes until golden brown. Serve with cream or custard.

Lemon is one of my favourite flavours. Silly little personality quizzes always ask if a person prefers chocolate or vanilla, but I reckon chocolate or lemon would be a much better choice. Not that I don't love vanilla; I nearly always choose it over chocolate. But lemon is better. I love it preserved, turned into curd or marmalade, as salad dressing and in hollandaise, as cordial and sorbet, and definitely squeezed over pancakes. And now, I love it as a pudding flavour.

If you're the type of person who likes a packet mix self-saucing pudding, you can bake this and get the same sort of crispy top. If you've got the time and inclination, steam it for a softer pudding.

Lemon sponge pudding

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tspn coconut essence
2 eggs
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup millk
1 1/2 cups SR flour
1 cup lemon curd

Method

Cream the butter and sigar together. Beat in the coconut essence, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well. Place the lemon juice in a measuring jug. Add enough milk to make up to 2/3 cup. The milk will go sour and get the consistency of yoghurt. Add a third of the flour to the batter, and mix well. Follow with half the milk. Continue adding flour and milk until all combined. Grease an 8 cup pudding basin if steaming, or a casserole if oven baking. Place the lemon curd in the base, then top with cake batter. Seal the basin and steam for 45 - 60 minutes, or bake uncovered at 180 Celsius for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with cream, custard or ice cream.

I've been a bit slack this year. For a really good pudding, you should make it well in advance and let the flavours develop. That said, any extra time between making and eating the pudding is an advantage, and the amount of fruit and spices in the recipe ensures it won't be tasteless.

Plum pudding

1 1/2 cups prunes
1 cup dates
1 cup currants
1 cup raisins
1 cup sultanas
1 cup mixed peel
1 cup whisky
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbspn golden syrup
2 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn ground cloves
1 tspn ground nutmeg
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup self raising flour
2 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
1/2 cup blanched almonds

Method

Roughly chop prunes and dates. Place in a large bowl with currants, raisins, sultanas and mixed peel. Cover with whisky, stir and leave to macerate at least six hours. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well to combine. Add the golden syrup and stir through. Sift together the flours and spices. Add to the butter mixture and mix well. Add the breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly. Roughly chop the almonds, and add to fruit mixture. Combine the fruit and batter mix and stir well to make sure the fruit is evenly distributed. Prepare a 2 litre pudding basin by placing a disc of greaseproof paper in the base. Place the batter in the basin, and cover with pleated greaseproof paper. Secure the paper and cover with a lid if available, or aluminium foil if there is no lid. Place a trivet in a large stockpot or tall saucepan. Put the pudding basin on the trivet, and add water up until one third of the way up the side of the basin. Bring to the boil and simmer for around six hours until pudding is browned and quite firm. Store the pudding in the refrigerator until Christmas, occasionally "feeding" with whisky if desired. To reheat the pudding, place it back in the basin and boil for around an hour. Serve with brandy sauce and cream. To flame the pudding, ladle brandy over the warmed pudding and ignite.