Treacle pudding with nutmeg, lemon & lime

We wanted to put a nice treacle pudding in the book, and after we visited a traditional sweet shop in Wales, coming up with this nutmeg-infused recipe was a no-brainer. The treacle toffee melts to give you a lovely, rich topping – delicious drizzled with some toffee sauce. If you’re short on time, you can also make four smaller, individual puddings by steaming them in the oven.

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  3 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 85 g (3¼ oz) butter, well softened, plus extra for greasing
• 115 g (4¼ oz) caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 nutmeg, grated
• grated zest of 1 lime
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 140g (4¾ oz) self-raising flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tbsp milk, or more if needed
• 55 g (2 oz) treacle toffee (if not available, use butterscotch or fudge), chopped into small pieces, plus extra for the sauce (optional)
• 2¼ tbsp treacle

Sauce

• a few pieces treacle toffee
• splash double cream

Instructions

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and place a steamer on top. (You will also need a lid.) Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric beater until pale and fluffy.

Add half of the beaten eggs and continue to beat for 1–2 minutes. Stop, scrape the sides of the bowl, then add the remaining beaten egg and continue beating for 1–2 minutes. Scrape the sides again. Add the nutmeg, lime and lemon zest, and beat for a few seconds more.

With a metal spoon, gradually fold the sifted flour and baking powder into the mixture as lightly as you can, keeping to a dropping consistency by adding milk, if needed. Fold in the toffee or fudge pieces.

Butter and lightly flour a 1.2 litre (2 pint) pudding basin. Spoon the treacle into the bottom of the basin, then add the pudding mixture. Secure the lid and steam gently for 3 hours, adding more water to the pan if necessary – keep a close eye on the pan so it doesn’t boil dry. The pudding is cooked when a skewer inserted into it comes out clean.

If you want to make some extra sauce, melt a couple of toffees or pieces of fudge in a small saucepan along with a splash of water. When the toffee starts to melt, stir in a glug of double cream. Warm through until the toffee has melted and pour over the pudding to serve.

Note 

• For four individual puddings, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and butter and flour four ovenproof ramekins as above. Divide the treacle between the ramekins, then do the same with the pudding mixture. Place the dishes in a deep roasting tin, pour boiling water into the tin until it comes half way up the sides of the ramekins, then put the tin in the oven for 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

  

Recipe from The Incredible Spice Men by Cyrus Todiwala and Tony Singh (BBC Books, $49.99, hbk, available here)

View all the recipes from The Incredible Spice Men.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.