Castle Puddings from Pride and Puddings by Regula Ysewijn

Back in May this year I was kindly sent a copy of Pride and Puddings, the history of British puddings, savoury and sweet by Regula Ysewijn from Murdoch books. And goodness me, if you are a pudding lover, this book is for you. For me, the word 'pudding' really makes me miss the cold weather where you get to rug up on the couch after dinner with a bowl of steamy pudding and cold ice cream or coming in from a cold day out and sitting down to a homemade chicken pie with peas. Thats not to say there isn't cold 'pudding' recipes in this book, there are. It's jammed back with recipes which remind me of Downtown Abby times like trifles, bakewell pudding, beef pudding, blood pudding, toad in the hole, bread and butter pudding, fritters, jellies, fools and burnt creams.

Being in the tropics where it's summer all year round did not stop me making a hot pudding, Castle Puddings, which are a type of steamed pudding. Steamed puddings hold a soft spot in my heart. When I still lived at home after high school when my only 'adult' responsibility was my phone bill, I'd get these ideas that making dessert at 9pm on a Tuesday was a brilliant idea. Mum didn't mind as long as the kitchen was clean and Dad was always up for it because he never said no to anything I cooked and he had a sweet tooth. Steam puddings, aka college puddings, was one of the things I made on rolation. The recipe I used back then was an old Australian Womens Weekly recipe where you put jam in the bottom of mugs and boil them on the stove in a water bath. This particular recipe for Castle Puddings that Regula Ysewijn has in her book uses lemon curd or thinly sliced oranges in the bottom and steamed in the oven in a baking tray of water.

In true FNQ fashion, I did not have oranges or lemon curd on hand, instead, I used the strawberry jam we had in the fridge instead. And even though I did not make these at 9pm on a weeknight, they felt like a complete treat and brought back memories of a lighter time. 

‘Images and text from Pride & Pudding by Regula Ysewijn, photography by Regula Ysewijn. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.’  

‘Images and text from Pride & Pudding by Regula Ysewijn, photography by Regula Ysewijn. Murdoch Books RRP $55.00.’  

*notes on the below: I used 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead of lemon.orange zest and a few heaped tablespoons of jam instead of lemon curd/orange slices.*

Castle Puddings

Steamed lemon or orange sponge puddings

Recipe from: Pride and Puddings by Regula Ysewijn.

Makes 8 small puddings in 7-8 cm basins (moulds); alternatively use a muffin tray, which will give a slightly different result as the holes are shallower.

butter, for greasing
200g butter, softened
200g raw sugar
4 eggs
200g self-raising flour

Lemon flavouring
zest of 1 small lemon
a jar or lemon curd

Orange flavouring
zest of 1/2 small orange
thinly sliced orange rounds
sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Prepare individual mini basins by greasing them generously with butter, then cut a disc of baking paper to fit inside the base of each basin and press it into the mould.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the butter with the sugar until pale and creamy. This is an important step so whisk thoroughly. Grate in the lemon or orange zest for the flavouring of your choice. Start adding the eggs one at a time, whisking until each egg is fully incorporated. Finally, fold in the flour and combine well.

Put on teaspoon of lemon curd or a think slice or orange sprinkled with sugar in each mini pudding basin, before adding the batter. Divide the batter between the basins until they are about two-thirds full.

Place the puddings in a deep baking dish. Carefully pour hot water into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the basins. Cove the dish with foil and bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes, checking after 40 minutes by inserting a toothpick into the pudding to see if it comes out clean.

Allow the puddings to cool in the basins. (if not needed directly, freeze in the basins and reheat in thee microwave after defrosting.)

When you are ready  to serve, loosen the pudding from the mould with the tip of a knife and turn the pudding out like a cake. Serve with an accompaniment of custard or ice cream; my favourite is clotted cream.