Make Rick Stein’s steamed sponge pudding topped with a ‘gorgeous glossy sauce’

Steamed sponge pudding is often made with indulgent flavourings like sticky toffee, chocolate, vanilla, or sweet berries.

This recipe by Cornwall local Rick Stein, however, comprises honey and butterscotch for the ultimate comfort food.

Sharing the recipe in series two, episode seven of his BBC show, Rick Stein’s Cornwall, the chef claimed that the dish is “happiness on a plate”.

Made with a mixture of butterscotch, honey and silky cream, the pudding is the ideal weekend treat.

What’s more, it’s easy to prepare in just a short time and requires a simple list of ingredients.

Method

Grease a one-litre pudding basin with butter and fill a large saucepan with water to boil on the stove.

Then, move on to the mixture by combining the sugar and butter until “nice and fluffy”. Rick said: “Creaming adds air to the mix which is important to give your pud a lovely light texture.”

Crack the eggs directly into the bowl and continue mixing. If the batter looks as though it is splitting after adding the eggs, stir in a spoonful of the flour to “bind it together” before sieving in the rest,

Once the flour has been mixed in, spoon the sticky honey into the bowl and fold until evenly distributed. At this point, the mixture should be ready to spoon into the pudding bowl ready for steaming.

Cover the bowl with greased tinfoil, using enough to cover the sides as well as the top, and secure it tightly with string. Rick said: “You don’t want any moisture getting in and making the pudding soggy”.

Place a steaming basket on top of the prepared pan of boiling water and transfer the pudding over to it for steaming. Rick noted that this will ensure more even cooking than if the bowl was placed at the bottom of the pan instead.

Place a lid on top of the pan and leave to steam for two hours, topping up the pan with boiling water if required.

Make the butterscotch sauce by placing all the ingredients other than the cream in a pan over low heat, stirring until they are all melted.

Stir gently to form a “gorgeous glossy sauce” before adding the double cream. Keep the mixture on heat for warmth while removing the pudding from the steamer.

Carefully uncover the pudding and run a knife around the edge of the basin to loosen it. Cover with an inverted plate and flip over to turn it out.

Serve in wedges with the honey butterscotch and Cornish ice cream and more honey as required.