Ingredients
Method
- Butter a 1.2 litre pudding basin generously. Spoon jam into base — spread evenly.
- Beat butter and sugar 3–4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and lemon zest. Sift in flour and baking powder — add milk — fold gently.
- Spoon batter carefully over jam — to 2cm below the rim. Pleat parchment and foil together — place over basin, pleat on top. Tie securely with string.
- Place basin in large saucepan. Add boiling water to halfway up sides. Cover tightly. Steam over medium-low heat 1 hour 30 minutes – 1 hour 45 minutes. Check and top up water every 30 minutes.
- Rest 5 minutes. Remove covering. Run palette knife around edge. Invert onto warm plate. Lift basin. Serve immediately with warm custard.
Notes
Use good quality jam — the jam is the feature of this pudding and its quality shows directly.
Pleat the parchment and foil cover — the pudding expands during steaming and needs room to rise.
Check water every 30 minutes — a dry pan is the most common steamed pudding disaster.
Rest 5 minutes before turning out — gives a cleaner, more confident turn-out.
Serve immediately — the jam glistens and the sponge is at its lightest and most yielding when hot.
