DISH RESEARCH · Dessert

sponge pudding

Also known as: Pudding, sponge, canned, Pudding, sponge, homemade, Pudding, sponge, with dried fruit, homemade

Nigella Lawson’s steamed syrup sponge processes a lemon-seasoned butter-and-egg batter, steams it over lemony golden syrup in a lidded basin and turns it out for warm serving with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream.

About sponge pudding

Research draft based on the references below. These notes describe particular recipes and presentations; ingredient connections are still being reviewed.

Nigella Lawson’s steamed syrup sponge sets a lemon-seasoned butter batter over golden syrup mixed with lemon juice. She presents this light, feathery-textured pudding in How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

Very soft unsalted butter, self-raising flour, caster sugar, three eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and milk are processed together. A little extra milk can loosen the mixture to a thick pouring consistency.

A buttered, lidded pudding basin receives golden syrup and the juice from the other lemon half. The sponge batter is poured over it and the buttered plastic lid is fitted.

The closed basin steams in a covered saucepan of boiling water, with hot water added when needed to maintain the bath. After cooking, the basin is lifted out and rests briefly before the pudding is turned onto a plate that catches the syrup.

Lawson serves the whole pudding warm, with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream offered alongside. The lemon-seasoned syrup flows over the steamed sponge when it is turned out.

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Dish type: Dessert
Preparation: Read the preparation
Very soft unsalted butter, self-raising flour, caster sugar, three eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and milk are processed together. A little extra milk can loosen the mixture to a thick pouring consistency. A buttered, lidded pudding basin receives golden syrup and the juice from the other lemon half. The sponge batter is poured over it and the buttered plastic lid is fitted. The closed basin steams in a covered saucepan of boiling water, with hot water added when needed to maintain the bath. After cooking, the basin is lifted out and rests briefly before the pudding is turned onto a plate that catches the syrup. Lawson serves the whole pudding warm, with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream offered alongside. The lemon-seasoned syrup flows over the steamed sponge when it is turned out.
Serving presentation: warm

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Ingredients in sponge pudding

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Sources & references

Steamed Syrup Sponge