Cinnamon Swirl Steamed Pudding | Bake Off Bake Along

Happy Dessert Week everyone, what did you all think of it? I personally wasn't very wowed by it, but maybe that's because it came after Caramel Week, which was pretty hard to top. 

It kind of felt like a lackluster week. All that gelatin in the trifle was just a big no for me, I'm not a peanut butter fan so the fondants weren't for me (however, I have tried Sally's chocolate lava cakes and they are brilliant!), which left me with the humble little steamed pudding.

But I'm definitely not complaining because this is essentially the ultimate comfort pudding for winter. 

I've had a lot of steamed puddings in all my 25 years. I have happy memories of eating them with a bowl full of custard at my Grandma's house. Although, as I remember, she used to make them in the microwave (the original mug cake), which was just a lot easier really. 

After raiding my Grandma's kitchen cupboards for a basin bowl, I set about making a cinnamon swirl steam pudding... because now it's October, I'm all about the spiced flavours. 

The pudding itself was a pretty good success in terms of flavour and texture, and the result on top was great, it was just the swirl inside which was a bit disappointing. After 2 hours of baking, the swirl seemed to just disappear into the sponge, which did give it a lovely sweet cinnamon burst inside, just a shame you couldn't see it!

I wolud definitely make a steamed pudding again, most likely towards Christmas with more spices and maybe some dried fruit or maybe a gingerbread flavour one. It is a great dessert to just place in a saucepan and leave, with no checking for rising or if they've burnt, just leave for 2 hours and it's done. 

Here's hoping that pastry week is a bit more exciting this week.

(shortly after this photo... pudding was served and sliced, then smothered in custard, because yum)

Cinnamon Swirl Steamed Pudding 

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Swirl on top

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp light brown sugar

15g butter, melted

Cake

175g butter

150g caster sugar

25g light brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

175g self raising flour

Sponge Swirl

25g butter, melted

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp sugar

Directions:

1. Butter a steamed pudding basin. For the cinnamon swirl on top, mix the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl until comes together as a paste. Place in a piping bag and and swirl around the bottom for the basin. Then place in the freezer to set. 
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, roughly 3 minutes. Then gradually add the eggs and vanilla extract. Once combined, fold in the self raising flour until just combined. 
3. Take the basin out of the freezer and pour the cake batter into the basin and smooth out the top. 
4. For the inner swirl, mix the melted butter, cinnamon and sugar together and place into a piping big (I used a Wilton #230 tip to really poke the mixture through the cake). Then pipe the mixture through the sponge in a swirl pattern. 
5. To cover the top of the basin, take a sheet of greaseproof paper and make a fold in the middle of about 3-5cm. Then cover in foil and wrap string tightly around the rim of the basin.
6. For baking, fill a saucepan with hot water and set to a gentle simmer. You can either place the basin on top of an upturned heatproof dish, or place it on a steamer level of a pan if you have one (like pictured above). If using an upturned dish, make sure the water reaches just over halfway on the side of the basin. 
7. On a gentle simmer, the steamed pudding will likely take 2 hours, Make sure to check that their is enough water in the pan periodically and that it hasn't evaporated. 
8. After 2 hours, put a skewer into the basin and check it has fully cooked through. If it has, remove from the pan and cool for 5 minutes, before turning out onto a serving dish and serving hot. If the cake cools, simply reheat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. 

Have you ever tried making a steamed pudding?