Chocolate, Marmalade and Ginger Steamed Pudding | Guest Recipes | Nigella's Recipes (2024)

FAQs

When making a steamed sponge pudding What is the correct preparation method? ›

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.

Boil or oven steam the puddings for 8 hrs, topping up with water as necessary. Remove from the pans and leave to cool overnight. When cold, discard the messy wrappings and re-wrap in new baking parchment, foil and string. Store in a cool, dry place until Christmas.

Cover the pudding with a sheet of baking paper and two sheets of foil and tie the foil in place with butchers twine. Place the pudding into a pre-heated oven steam setting 100 °C for 2.5 hours. Once the pudding is cooked remove the foil and baking paper and test the pudding with a skewer to ensure it is cooked.

Wrap in foil and reheat at 300ºF (150ºC) for an hour or until hot. To reheat on the stovetop, remove wrappings and place the pudding in the original mould. Cover tightly. Set pudding mould on a trivet in a large saucepan and steam 3/4 - 1 hour or until hot.

Make sure the base of the pudding bowl is not in direct contact with the base of the pan. -Add enough water to reach halfway up the sides of the pudding bowl. -Cover the pan tightly with the lid. Steam the pudding according to the recipe instructions.

If the pudding has a very big dip in the centre then it could be that it was not cooked quite thoroughly enough and this could happen if the water was not kept at a brisk simmer or if the pan was allowed to boil dry at any point.

Ideally we would suggest that when the pudding is made it is steamed for 8 hours (the combined time of the first and second steamings) as the steaming is important for the flavour of the pudding. The pudding can then be microwaved to reheat it on Christmas Day.

The pudding will not be particularly dark in colour after the first steaming but darkens on the second steaming. If you cooked the pudding in a slow cooker then sometimes the temperature isn't high enough to fully melt the suet and you should do the second steaming in the regular way.

As for all puddings, it should be stored in a cool, dry place until Christmas Day. For the US our preference would be to use Pyrex mixing bowls for steaming Christmas puddings.

Nigella mentions that the pudding becomes more sticky and dense as it steams. We suggest oncovering or unwrapping the pudding and taking a spoonful from the top centre part of the pudding (this will be the base when the pudding is turned out sdo won't be noticeable).

What temperature do you steam pudding? ›

Set your oven to 350 °F (177 °C).

Keep your oven at this temperature to avoid burning the pudding or boiling your water.

A pudding can be steamed either in an oven, tightly wrapped and sitting in a bath of boiling water, or the old fashioned way – on the hob. To steam on the hob, first cover the prepared mixture in its pudding basin with a disc of baking paper.

The pudding is at its very best when freshly cooked as the sponge is light and moist. For this reason we prefer not to make the sponge in advance, as it can become denser as it cools. The sauce can be made up to a week ahead and stored in the fridge, or up to 3 months ahead and frozen.

Our answer

After cooking, Christmas Cakes and Christmas Puddings are best stored in a cool dark place as warm environments tend to increase the risk of deterioration, particularly if the temperature fluctuates a lot or is very warm.

When the sponge is completely cold cover the basin tightly in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and keep in a cool place, or the fridge, for up to 5 days. For any longer than this it is best to freeze the pudding adding an extra layer of foil over the top of the clingfilm layers.

In general, sponge cakes are prepared using a combination of a batter and foam. The batter is prepared by beating the flour, egg yolks, and half of the sugar. Separately, the egg whites and remaining half of the sugar are whipped into foam, which is carefully folded into the egg yolk batter.

There are four major types and ways to prepare puddings: boiled, baked, steamed and chilled in the refrigerator until it gels. Some recipes can be prepared by either one method or another or through a combination of methods.