We eat a lot of apples but our dessert apple tree ripens early, and they don’t store well. We also have a problem with codling moth, which means many apples drop early and with the caterpillar damage, need chopping before they can be eaten. This is where pudding recipes come in, and there is nothing I like more than to make a belly-filling, soul warming steamed pudding (and my husband and daughter seem to like eating them!)
If you don’t have a pudding basin, you can use a heat safe glass bowl but I love my traditional pudding basins. These Mason Cash ones are perfectI have several pudding basins, some handed down from family and new ones. I need them all at Christmas pudding time!
This toffee apple steamed pudding is simple to make, and uses mostly store cupboard ingredients so is pretty budget friendly. I think steamed puddings are a great alternative to crumbles if you grow your own fruit or need to feed a crowd fairly cheaply.
The sauce makes this one special enough to serve to guests or to have after your Sunday roast. It pairs well with custard or ice cream if you really want to splash out. The sauce could be doubled up, just remember not to add more to the pudding basin than the original quantity (you’d need to add 1/6 if you double the sauce quantity).
Happy eating!
Toffee Apple Steamed Pudding
This delicious toffee apple steamed pudding is so simple to make and is great for those late summer or early autumn meals when you want something sweet and sticky. It's also great for making use of any windfall apples as they need to be peeled, cored and chopped before use.
Ingredients
- 175 g butter, softened
- 4 dessert/eating apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 2 cm chunks
- 130 g caster sugar
- 50 g raisins or sultanas
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 150 g self raising flour
- Toffee sauce
- 125 g light soft brown sugar
- 50 g dark soft brown sugar
- 125 g butter
- 200g creme fraiche
Instructions
- In a frying pan, melt 25 g of butter and add the chopped apple. Cook until just tender then add 1 tbsp of the caster sugar, and continue cooking until the apples begin to caramelise. Remove from the heat and stir in the dried fruit.
- While the apple is cooking, make the toffee sauce. Melt the two brown sugars and the butter in a small saucepan. Once mostly melted, add the creme fraiche and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then simmer for two minutes, stirring frequently to make sure the sauce doesn't catch.
- Into a greased 1.5 litre pudding basin, pour the cooked apple mixture and lightly press down into the bottom of the basin with a spoon. Remove the toffee sauce from the heat, and pour 1/3 of it over the apples.
- Make the pudding batter by combining the remaining softened butter and caster sugar (some was used to cook the apples) in a mixing bowl and beating together until pale and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs, still whisking, and then fold in the flour. Spoon the batter on top of the apples and toffee sauce, spreading the top smooth to cover any sauce that has pushed up.
- Take a piece of baking paper and fold some small pleats into the middle of the sheet, this will allow it to expand as the pudding rises.
- Cover the paper with foil and secure with string or an elastic band.
- Place the basin in a large saucepan and fill with water up to the middle of the basin. Cover with a lid, bring to the boil and keep at a simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes until the pudding is cooked through. If you have a real range cooker you can remove the pudding from the stove top and place in an oven at 180C to cook. Make sure your saucepan is oven safe.
- When the pudding is cooked, remove it carefully from the saucepan and leave to rest for a couple of minutes. Take off the foil and baking paper and turn out onto a serving plate. The best way to do this is to place a plate over the basin and then turn both upside down so that the pudding drops onto the plate.
- Serve with the remaining toffee sauce spooned over.
Notes
I like to use a fairly crisp and tart dessert apple for this recipe, you could even use cooking apples for an extra contract between the fruit and the sweetness of the sauce.
It would also be easy to vary the fruit, pears would work well with the toffee sauce.
