basin pudding

Rich, dark and spicy - prepare enough mixture for two basins, one for Christmas day and the other to give as a gift

Guinness, treacle & ginger pudding

mixed dried fruit

stoned date

stem ginger

oranges

Guinness

butter

whole almond

suet

apples

dark muscovado sugar

tbsp black treacle

self-raising flour

soft white breadcrumb

ground almond

tbsp mixed spice

ginger

½ tsp ground cloves

eggs

brandy (optional)

Mix together the dried fruit, ginger, orange zest and juice, and Guinness in a bowl. Cover and leave to soak overnight.

Grease 2 x 1.2-litre pudding basins. Boil a kettle of water. To prepare your steamers, put a snug-fitting upturned bowl or plate in the base of 2 large, deep saucepans, big enough to hold your pudding basins. Add the remaining ingredients (except brandy) to the fruit mixture and stir well, making sure there are no pockets of flour. Divide between your prepared basins and cover with buttered baking parchment and a foil lid. Tie with string to secure and make a handle for easy lifting.

Stand the puddings on the upturned bowls or plates in your saucepans. Pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the basins, cover with a tight-fitting lid and steam for 6 hrs, topping up with water if necessary. If your lids start to rattle as the puddings cook, place a couple of heavy cans on top to hold them down. Once cooked, the puddings can mature for up to 1 year in a cool dark place, so if you only eat one this year, that’s fine.

To serve, reheat in a steamer for 1 hr until piping hot all the way through. Flame with brandy, if you like, as you bring it to the table.

Add a little salt to your homemade caramel sauce before pouring liberally on sponge puddings, ice cream and any sweet treat you fancy

Salted caramel sauce

light soft brown sugar

double cream

salt

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan set over a low heat, and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the heat up and bubble the sauce for 2-3 mins until golden and syrupy. Leave to cool for 10 mins before serving. Can be made up to 3 days in advance and chilled – gently reheat to serve.

A steamed basin sponge hits the spot every time and uses up half-full jars of marmalade, syrup or jam - serve hot with custard!

As-you-like-it steamed pudding

(optional)

tbsp jam (we used strawberry), marmalade, curd, golden syrup

caster sugar

flour

tbsp milk

tsp vanilla extract

Generously grease a 1.2-litre pudding basin and put your chosen topping in the base. Boil a kettle of water. To prepare your steamer, put a snugly fitting upturned bowl in the base of a large, deep saucepan, big enough to hold the pudding.

Put the ingredients for the sponge in a food processor and blend until smooth (but don’t overwork the mix), then tip into the pudding basin. Cover with a lid made of baking parchment and foil, and tie with string to secure (see step-by-step). Stand the pudding on the upturned bowl in your saucepan. Pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the side of the pudding basin. Set over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid, lower the heat to a gentle simmer and leave to steam for 2½ hrs, topping up with boiling water if the level gets too low.

Check the pudding is cooked by inserting a skewer through the foil and parchment lid into the centre of the pudding. If the skewer still has some wet mixture on it, return the pudding to the steamer for a further 15-20 mins, then check again. Once cooked, uncover and turn the pudding onto a plate. Serve straight away with custard, if you like.

Top 3 basin pudding recipes from across the web

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Top Tags

Guinness, treacle & ginger pudding

Salted caramel sauce

As-you-like-it steamed pudding

Top 3 basin pudding recipes from across the web

The most viewed basin pudding recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Guinness, treacle & ginger pudding

Salted caramel sauce

As-you-like-it steamed pudding

The most viewed basin pudding recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine