A Pudding Worth the Faff

There is a particular sort of Sunday afternoon that only a steamed pudding can answer. The rain is coming in sideways, the heating is doing its best, and somewhere in the kitchen a covered basin is chuntering gently over a pan of simmering water. This chocolate version is dark, damp and almost brownie-like in the middle, but lighter than you would expect because the steam does the work rather than a dry oven. It is not a quick pudding. It takes two hours of gentle steaming, and you cannot hurry it. What you get in return is a sponge so moist it barely needs custard — though you will make the custard anyway, because the whole point is the contrast between bitter, deep chocolate and sweet, vanilla-flecked pouring cream.

Steamed puddings fell out of fashion because they seem fiddly. They are not, really. They simply demand that you stay in the house, which on a wet Sunday is no hardship at all.

What Goes Into the Basin

Use a 1.2-litre pudding basin for this quantity; it will come about two-thirds of the way up and leave room to rise. You will need:

• 175g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 175g dark muscovado sugar — the sticky, clumped sort, not the dry light version
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 100g plain flour and 40g cocoa powder, sifted together
• 1½ tsp baking powder and ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 75g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa, melted and cooled slightly
• 100ml whole milk and 1 tsp vanilla extract

The muscovado matters more than anything else on that list. It brings a treacle edge that keeps the pudding from tasting like a chocolate muffin, and it holds moisture beautifully. Cream the butter and sugar for a good four or five minutes, add the eggs one at a time, then fold in the dry ingredients with a large metal spoon. Stir through the melted chocolate, milk and vanilla last. The batter should drop from the spoon with a reluctant slump — if it is stiff, add another tablespoon of milk.

The Steaming, Step by Step

Butter the basin generously and pop a disc of baking parchment in the base. Spoon in the batter and level the top. Now cover it properly: take a sheet of foil large enough to overhang the rim, fold a pleat down the middle (this lets the pudding expand without tearing the lid), and tie it tightly around the rim with string. Fashion a handle from the string across the top so you can lift the basin out later without scalding yourself.

Stand the basin in a deep pan and pour boiling water around it so it comes roughly a third of the way up the sides. Clamp on a lid, bring to a steady simmer, and leave for two hours. Check every forty minutes or so and top up with more boiling water from the kettle — never cold, which will knock the steam back and give you a dense pudding. When it is done, a skewer pushed into the centre should come out with a few moist crumbs, nothing wet. Let it sit for ten minutes before turning out.

Proper Custard, Not Powder

Real custard takes eight minutes and a little nerve, and it is worth every second. Pour 300ml double cream and 200ml whole milk into a heavy pan with a split vanilla pod or 2 tsp vanilla bean paste. Bring it to the edge of a simmer, then take it off the heat and leave to infuse for twenty minutes. Whisk 5 egg yolks with 60g caster sugar and 1 tsp cornflour — the cornflour is cheap insurance against curdling.

Pour the warm cream over the yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly, then return everything to the pan. Cook over the lowest possible heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. If you have a thermometer, aim for 82°C and no higher. Strain it into a jug, and keep it warm over a pan of hot water with a sheet of cling film pressed to the surface to stop a skin forming.

Timing Your Sunday and Varying the Theme

Start the pudding at lunchtime and eat it at five. Turn it out onto a warm plate, pour over a little of the custard so it soaks into the top, and serve the rest in a jug. Thick cream alongside is not overkill; it is tradition.

The base recipe takes well to additions. Try two balls of stem ginger chopped small, the finely grated zest of an orange, or a generous tablespoon of marmalade stirred through the batter. Swapping 50ml of the milk for stout deepens the flavour further.

To get ahead, steam the pudding the day before, cool it completely, and keep it covered in the fridge. Reheat by steaming again for forty-five minutes. It also freezes well for up to a month — wrap the cooled pudding in its basin, foil and all.

When It Goes Wrong

• Heavy and close-textured: the batter was overworked after the flour went in, or the water boiled too furiously. Keep the simmer gentle and fold with a light hand.
• Waterlogged top: the foil was not pleated or not tied tightly enough. Steam finds every gap.
• Grainy custard: the heat was too high. Strain it anyway — it will still be delicious — and next time use a heavier pan.
• Stuck in the basin: it needed longer to rest, or the base was not lined. Run a thin knife around the edge before turning out.