English Pudding
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As if I wasn’t doing enough, I have this whole Daring Bakers’ thing to keep doing…
The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.
I was a bit concerned about this challenge as it called for suet – the stuff most people think of as what you put out for the wild birds. But then, thankfully, we were allowed to use butter. And I promptly forgot about the challenge for most of the month, until exactly two days before we needed to have it done.
Thankfully, English pudding (at least the sweet sponge variety) is incredibly easy to make, although with the steaming it does take a bit of planning.
I will definitely keep this recipe on hand. It looks fancy, but came together so quickly. And who doesn’t love that?
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3 or 4 pear halves
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips, melted
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and cocoa together. Alternate adding the flour mixture and egg into the sugar, beating well to fully incorporate after each addition.
- Grease a 1 liter bowl (I used a small Pyrex), and place the pears, flat side down, in the bottom of the bowl. Pour the batter in on top and smooth. Cover the bowl with waxed paper, then aluminum foil.
- Steam in a large stockpot for approximately 90 minutes. The top of the pudding should look like a firm cake. Let cool slightly in bowl to ensure a set, then turn out onto a plate. Spoon on chocolate sauce, and serve.
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate based on online calculators. Any nutritional information found on Stetted should be used as a general guideline only.
About Megan
I focus on fresh ingredients and easy methods, with spins that keep meals interesting. Dinnertime shouldn’t be stressful or complicated, and I’m here to help you enjoy the time spent in the kitchen. Read more…
Pear and chocolate, perfect combination – glad I came across your blog, it’s lovely.
WOW that is one beautiful looking pudding well done and the flavour combination pear/chocolate sounds perfect. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
What a beautiful pudding, well done it’s gorgeous!
Wow, what a beautiful looking pudding! And the combination of pear and chocolate is a winner!
excellent idea! Pears and chocolate… divine!
what a stunning looking pudding. love your answer to this months challenge.
Gorgeous pudding! And I love the addition of pears, I’m sure it’s delicious!
Wonderful combination! Yet another to add to my list 🙂 Wonder if it would taste any good if I added just a pinch of nutmeg…hmmm…
Oh my, pears and chocolate, another fabulous flavor combination! The presentation is beautiful, with the pear halves. Lovely, darling!
Your pudding looks beautiful! I love the combination of pears and chocolate!
Lovely photos and great flavour combinations too.
Your pudding looks beautiful and the recipe looks so simple! That is great! Nice job on the challenge.
Your pudding looks so lovely, especially with more chocolate drizzled on it. Who can say British puddings are uninspiring!
wow that looks amazing! I think Im going to make this now! I’ve never steamed a cake before!
How long does it take to steam? How can you do it exactly? do you place it in the pot? or does it float on top? etc…could you give some more direction on that?:D
You steam it for about an hour and a half. I used a large stockpot that has a steamer insert, but you could construct a platform with just foil balls or something, to have the bowl rest on. The cake is taller rather than wide (and you don’t use a regular cake pan) but I think the cake serves 6-8.
also…how much does this make? like 8 inch cake? 4 2inch ones?
Oh I love what you did Megan – I need to make a steamed pudding myself soon – I did mine with my petits chefs cooking club and they were not nearly as elegant, obviously, but the joy and pride in their eyes was priceless!
I know I am approximately one year late in asking this, but how do you think it would change the steaming time if I used little ramekins instead of a bigger Pyrex? Do you reckon it would work? I have a barbecue picnic coming up and this looks just perfect. 🙂 Thanks for your help