Steamed syrup sponge for two
Syrup at the base, a soft crumb, and custard poured over the top
35 to 40 minutes of that is unattended steaming
Doubles into four small basins if your pan is wide enough to hold them all in one layer of water. Steams for the same time either way.
A steamed sponge needs almost no skill and only one piece of equipment, a pan deep enough to hold water halfway up two small basins. The syrup goes in first, right at the bottom, so gravity does the work you would otherwise do with a spoon, and turning the sponge out gives you a pool of it running down the sides. The crumb underneath stays soft rather than dry, because steam, unlike an oven, never lets the surface catch. Pour the custard generously. It should puddle around the base of the sponge rather than sit primly beside it. The whole thing takes the best part of an hour, nearly all of it unattended, which makes it a good pudding to start well before the main course rather than after.
Ingredients
Contains: Gluten, Milk, Egg
- 65 gunsalted butter, 5 g for greasing, 60 g softened for the sponge
- 4 tbspgolden syrup
- 80 gcaster sugar, 60 g for the sponge, 20 g for the custard
- 1egg
- 60 gwhite self-raising flour
- 300 mlwhole milk, 2 tbsp cold to loosen the sponge batter, the rest warmed for the custard
- 1 tspvanilla extract
- 50 mldouble cream
- 3egg yolks
Method
Grease two small pudding basins or ramekins of about 200 ml each with the 5 g of butter. Spoon 2 tablespoons of golden syrup into the base of each one.
Beat the remaining 60 g of butter with 60 g of the sugar until pale and soft. Beat in the egg, then fold in the flour and the 2 tablespoons of cold milk until you have a smooth, dropping batter.
Divide the batter between the basins, spooning it gently over the syrup so it does not mix in. Cover each basin with a double layer of pleated foil, tied or tucked tightly at the sides.
Stand the basins in a pan with a folded cloth or trivet underneath, and pour in boiling water to come halfway up the sides. Cover the pan and steam over a low simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, topping up the water if it runs low, until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
Meanwhile, warm the rest of the milk with the vanilla extract and the cream in a small pan until steaming, not boiling. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 20 g of sugar in a bowl.
Pour the warm milk onto the yolks in a thin stream, whisking as you go, then return the mixture to the pan. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 4 to 5 minutes, until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon.
Keep the heat low and keep stirring. Custard that gets too hot scrambles rather than thickens.
Turn the sponges out onto small plates and pour the warm custard over the top, letting it puddle around the base.
Let the basins stand for a minute or two after steaming before turning out. The syrup at the base is very hot straight from the pan.
Watch-points
- Use white self-raising flour only. Wholemeal or spelt flour is off the list.
- Let the basins stand for a minute before you turn them out. The syrup pooled at the base is scalding straight from the steamer.
- Keep the custard on a low heat and stir constantly, so the egg thickens the milk rather than scrambling in it.
Make it more nourishing
- Add an extra egg yolk to the custard for a silkier sauce and more protein, with no change to the method.
- Loosen the sponge batter with 2 tablespoons of double cream in place of the milk, for about 100 kcal more in the same volume.
- Whisk 1 tablespoon of skimmed milk powder into the custard milk before you warm it, for another 3 g of protein and a slightly thicker sauce.
Swaps
- Instead of golden syrup, use honey
- a slightly different flavour but the same soft, pooling result
- Instead of home-made custard, use good shop-bought custard, warmed gently
- saves the last two steps entirely on a day when that matters more than the extra effort