Sticky ginger pear pudding
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Sticky ginger pear pudding

By Jane Hornby

A great last-minute alternative to a traditional Christmas pudding – plus it reheats in only five minutes

  • Prep:20 mins
    Cook:1 hrs 30 mins
  • Serves 8
  • More effort

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 457
  • fat 13g
  • saturates 8g
  • carbs 79g
  • sugars 62g
  • fibre 0g
  • protein 4g
  • salt 0.99g

Ingredients

  • 85g golden syrup
  • 175g dark muscovado sugar, plus 1 tsp extra
  • 150ml milk
  • 100g butter, plus lots extra for greasing
  • 175g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 6 balls stem ginger from a jar
  • 2 ripe pears, peeled
  • 1 egg
  • custard, to serve
  • 50ml syrup from the ginger jar
  • 100ml brandy
  • 85g dark muscovado sugar

Tip

Transporting the pudding
Once the pudding has baked, cool in the basin and cover. Make the syrup, cool and pour into a microwaveable container. At the party, reheat the pudding in the microwave for 5 mins on High, then turn out onto a serving plate. Warm the syrup for 1 min on Medium or until hot, then spoon over.

Method

  1. Put the syrup, sugar and milk into a saucepan, then bring to a simmer to dissolve. Leave to cool almost completely while you get on with everything else. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.

  2. Put the butter, flour, bicarb, ground ginger and cinnamon into a food processor, then pulse until it forms fine crumbs. Generously butter a 1.4-litre pudding basin and sprinkle 1 tsp sugar into the bottom. Cut 3 of the ginger balls in half and put 5 halves, rounded-side down, into the bottom, like the points of a star. Cut one cheek from a pear, then slice through about 10 times, without cutting through the stalk end. Put this into the bottom of the bowl amongst the ginger, then press gently so that the pear fans out. Core, then thinly slice the remaining pear. Finely chop the rest of the ginger.

  3. Tip the cooled syrup mix and egg into a food processor, then quickly whizz with the dry ingredients to a batter. Take out the blade, then stir in the chopped ginger and sliced pear. Scrape the mix into the basin, then bake for 1 hr 20 mins until risen and dark golden, and a skewer comes out clean. Whatever you do, don’t open the oven before 45 mins is up.

  4. To finish, gently melt the syrup ingredients in a pan together until the sugar dissolves, then boil briefly. Turn the pudding out of its basin just before serving, spoon over the syrup and serve with custard.

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