Course: Dessert
Servings: 6
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 200g plain flour
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch of salt
- 75g soft brown sugar
- 100g butter, grated straight from the fridge
- 1 tbsp black treacle
- 1 egg, beaten
- 100ml milk
- 3 tbsp rhubarb preserve
butter for greasing
baking foil
greaseproof paper
kitchen twine
To serve
custard, cream or rhubarb syrup
Instructions:
- Grease a 1 litre / 1 3/4 pint pudding basin. Prepare a steamer or a large saucepan half filled with boiling water.
- Sift the flour, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, bicarbonate and salt into a large bowl.
- Add the butter and sugar and mix lightly.
- In a separate bowl, beat together the treacle, egg and half the milk.
- Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix well. Adding enough of the remaining milk to give a soft dropping consistency.
- Spoon the rhubarb preserve into the bottom of the prepared basin, then gently spoon the cake batter on top. Make sure you leave about an inch of space at the top to allow the pudding to rise.
- Layer a piece of greaseproof paper and one of baking foil, both large enough to cover the top of your basin amply. Pleat them together in the centre. Cover the pudding with this, greaseproof side innermost. Smooth down over the edges and secure with kitchen twine.
- Put the pudding into the perforated part of the steamer or on an upturned saucer in a large saucepan. If using a saucepan, the water should come about halfway up the side of the basin.
- Cover the pan tightly and steam the pudding, over gently simmering water for about 1 3/4 hours, or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Remove from the heat and let it stand for about 10 minutes, to firm up. Turn your pudding out onto a serving dish. If you are using this as your Christmas Day dessert you can drizzle it with the spirit of your choice and flambé as you would a Christmas pudding.
- Serve with custard, cream or rhubarb syrup.
You can make this a day or two in advance and store it in its sealed basin. Remove the foil and paper and turn it out when you want to serve it. You can quickly warm it in the microwave for a minute or two, loosely covered with the basin, just before serving.