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I was intrigued by this recipe for a couple reasons. The pudding recipe has a lot of baking soda. If you look closely, there’s a full teaspoon of “soda” for only a third of a cup of flour. This concerned me, I have to admit. And the caramel sauce made from an egg yolk, brown sugar and vanilla was really interesting to me. I guess it’s a kind of quick caramel, really, not a real caramel, and the egg yolk is there to thicken and perhaps make it a little more unctuous.
This was the first time I had ever steamed pudding cakes before, and I was a little worried. The last thing I wanted was water-logged puddings. Nobody wants to eat that. So for insurance purposes, I covered each ramekin of pudding with a piece of greased parchment, along with the recommended foil, and I secured the foil with some string even though the recipe doesn’t say to do so.
Also, I strained the caramel sauce, which isn’t necessary, but I think the sauce was a touch smoother this way.
Verdict? The recipe worked perfectly, yielding four lovely little steamed puddings and a rich caramel sauce. They look exactly as I would expect a retro recipe to look: dark and spongy, and served with a generous drizzling of caramel sauce. I thought these marmalade puddings were yummy, but… possibly a bit too baking soda-y for my modern palate? There’s a flavour there that makes me think of an old-fashioned gingerbread loaf, but I think that’s actually the baking soda confusing my taste buds. The cake has a lovely soft, spongy texture on the other hand, which also is probably because of the baking soda. Definite pros and cons to that much baking soda.
The real star here is the caramel sauce. I could drink this caramel sauce because it’s that good. It’s sweet, and a little creamy, and it simply takes a couple minutes to make. I want to make another batch and put it on breakfast waffles and pancakes. I want to spike it with bourbon and pour it over bread pudding for dessert.
Marmalade pudding cakes recipe
Retro recipe: marmalade puddings
Ingredients
- 1 tsp baking soda or 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp boiling water
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter 15 grams, room temperature
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar 15 grams
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 42 grams
- 1 tbsp thick marmalade plus 4 tsp extra to put at the bottom of each ramekin
- 1 yolk from a large egg
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar 100 grams
- 1/4 cup water 63 mL
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Grease four ramekins. Line the bottom of each with a round of parchment
- First prepare the pudding batter. Stir together the baking soda with the boiling water. Let cool.
- Meanwhile, cream the butter and the granulated sugar. Then add the egg. I used a hand blender for these steps.
- Stir in the flour, 1 tbsp marmalade, and the dissolved baking soda mixture.
- Place 1 tsp of marmalade at the bottom of each prepared ramekin, then divide the pudding batter evenly among the ramekins.
- Cover each ramekin with a large square of greased parchment and a large square of foil. Wrap tightly and secure with twine.
- Place the four ramekins in a large pot lined with a metal rack (or something to elevate off the bottom of the pan—I used a bunch of jar lids)
- Fill pot with boiling water (hot water is okay too) until it reaches half way up the ramekins. Cover the pot with a lid. Steam the puddings for one hour on the stove (check that there is sufficient water every 20 minutes or so).
- Meanwhile, prepare the quick caramel sauce by whisking together the yolk, brown sugar, water, and butter in a small saucepan. Heat on medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, whisking constantly. Let the mixture boil for a full minute, then immediately strain it into a bowl.
- Stir in the vanilla.
- When the puddings are steamed. Remove the ramekins from the water bath using tongs. Let sit for about 5–10 minutes, then unwrap and run a knife along the edge to loosen the cakes. Invert the puddings on serving plates. Drizzle the quick caramel generously over each of the puddings.
Notes
Nutrition
I do my best to bake with the finest ingredients. Stirling Creamery, a Canadian company, has provided the butter for this post.
Janice Lawandi is chemist-turned-baker, working as a recipe developer in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She studied pastry at Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa and cooking at l’Académie Culinaire. She has a BSc in Biochemistry from Concordia University and a PhD in Chemistry from McGill University. Visit janicelawandi.com to see my portfolio.
Another trip down memory lane though I think I actually remember eating these only once or twice.
sounds great!
Oh it’s like sticky toffee pudding! What a great dessert!
Exactly, Mallory! It’s so fun discovering older recipes!
It looks so tempting..I guess because of that marmalade 🙂 Nice recipe.
Marmalade has that effect on me as well 😉
hi,
I have just discovered your terrific blog and I love it!
Recently, I made some little steamed puddings.
I cooked them uncovered in a bamboo steamer over a wok.
Like you, I was a bit concerned that they would be a bit wet.
But the recipe did not say to cover the dishes so I didn’t.
They came out fine.
I will definitely be trying your recipe, as I have several jars of homemade cumulative marmalade in my cupboard which has been there too long.
But it improves with age-right?
Actually, apparently marmalade does improve/change with age, so it’s all good 😉
If you try this recipe, you might like to reduce the baking soda as I mentionned in this post: https://www.kitchenhealssoul.com/2014/01/23/focus-on-baking-soda/html
My mom likes these pudding cakes the way they are because this the recipe she grew up with, but they are completely different without so much baking soda. Up to you!