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.
8 tbsp (8 oz/200 g) self-raising flour
4 tbsp (4 oz/100 g) butter or margarine
4 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1⁄2 cup of milk
2 tbsp golden syrup
Method
1. Grease an average-sized pudding basin or Pyrex bowl with
butter or margarine (‘average’ would hold approximately 11⁄2–2
pints/850 ml–1 litre of water) and put a circle of greaseproof
paper at the bottom of the basin.
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. Stir in the sugar.
4. Add the egg to 1⁄2 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. 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. 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. Steam the pudding in a large saucepan of boiling water for
about 11⁄2 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. 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.