Steamed Marmalade Pudding

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1-litre pudding basin
• •Deep saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, large enough to hold the basin
• •Kitchen string
• •Baking parchment and foil
• •Electric whisk or wooden spoon and stamina

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the basin

   Butter a 1-litre pudding basin generously, getting right into the rim and the base. Spoon the marmalade into the bottom of the basin and spread it out roughly with the back of the spoon. It doesn't need to be neat. It'll find its own level when the pudding steams.

   Use a proper thick-cut marmalade with real peel in it. The bitter strips of Seville rind are the whole point. Thin, jellied marmalade disappears into the sponge and leaves you with nothing to chew on.
2. 2

   Cream the butter and sugar

   In a mixing bowl, beat the soft butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. This takes longer than you think, four or five minutes with an electric whisk, closer to eight by hand. You're looking for a colour change, from yellow to almost ivory, and a texture that holds the mark of the whisk for a second before settling.

3. 3

   Add the eggs

   Beat in the eggs one at a time, giving each one a good minute to incorporate before adding the next. If the mixture looks like it's about to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour. Don't panic. A slightly split batter still makes a good pudding; it just won't be quite as light.

4. 4

   Fold in the dry

   Sift the flour and salt over the batter and fold it in gently with a large metal spoon. Add the orange zest and the tablespoon of milk. The finished batter should drop reluctantly from the spoon, what the old books call a soft dropping consistency. If it's stiff, another splash of milk. Trust your eye.

5. 5

   Fill the basin

   Spoon the batter carefully on top of the marmalade, trying not to disturb it too much. Smooth the top. The basin should be about three-quarters full, no more. The sponge needs room to rise.

6. 6

   Cover and seal

   Take a sheet of baking parchment and a sheet of foil, layer them together, and make a pleat down the middle. The pleat gives the pudding room to rise without bursting its lid. Lay the paper-and-foil over the basin, paper side down, and tie it tightly around the rim with kitchen string. Trim any excess. A second loop of string across the top makes a handle for lifting it out later, which you'll thank yourself for.

7. 7

   Steam the pudding

   Set the basin in a deep saucepan on an upturned saucer or a folded tea towel. Pour in boiling water from the kettle until it comes two-thirds of the way up the sides of the basin. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and bring to a gentle, steady simmer. Steam for one and three-quarter hours. Check the water level every half hour and top up with more boiling water if it's dropped. The pan should never run dry.

   Low and steady. A furious boil will toughen the sponge and rattle the basin about. You want the water murmuring, not roaring.
8. 8

   Turn out and serve

   Lift the basin out carefully and set it on a board. Remove the string and the paper. The top of the sponge should be risen, pale gold, and springy when you press it. Run a small knife around the edge. Place a deep plate on top, invert, and give it a firm shake. The pudding should slide out with the marmalade running down the sides in sticky amber rivers. Serve at once, with double cream or cold custard.

Chef Tips

• •The marmalade is doing half the work, so use one you actually like eating on toast. A proper thick-cut Seville with plenty of bitter peel is what you want. If you've made your own, this is the pudding to use it in.
• •Room-temperature butter and eggs. Cold butter won't cream properly and cold eggs will split the batter. Take them out of the fridge an hour before you start. Small thing, real difference.
• •Don't skip the pleat in the paper and foil. The sponge needs somewhere to rise, and a flat lid will either burst or squash the top of the pudding. The fold looks fussy but takes ten seconds.
• •Cold custard over hot pudding is the combination I'd choose every time. The contrast of temperatures does something to both of them that neither manages alone. Double cream is the other right answer. Ice cream is not.

Advance Preparation

• •The pudding can be steamed a day ahead, cooled in its basin, and re-steamed for thirty minutes before serving. Some would argue it's better the second day, the marmalade having had longer to seep into the sponge.
• •Leftovers keep in the fridge for three days. Warm a slice gently in a low oven, wrapped in foil, or eat it cold standing at the counter. Both are legitimate.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)