When this month’s challenge was revealed at the Daring Bakers forum, to say I wasn’t exactly thrilled would be an understatement. The reason being, as you would all know by now, that the nature of the main ingredient was not exactly palatable given my vegetarian diet or my sensibilities.
The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.
Of course, this being a personal opinion, I was planning to sit out this challenge till Esther clarified that we could use butter. The main challenge this month was to make a steam cooked British style “pud”, sweet or savoury, using any recipe of our choice.
That made things a whole lot better.
Steam cooking is something I’m very familiar with. As a south Indian, a lot of our traditional cooking involves steaming, especially quite a few of our breakfast dishes which are cooked this way.
So the method of cooking this involved in this month’s pudding wasn’t a challenge for me, and I’m sure for most of the DB members of Asian origin.
Sticky Date Pudding With Butterscotch Sauce:
Yet I have never made a steamed British style pudding even though I have always wanted to try my hand at a sticky date pudding. Well, this was the perfect opportunity. We love dates and I always have some in stock.
I adapted this recipe and adjusted it to ingredient, taste and serving preferences. Here’s my recipe and I used dariole moulds to make single serves rather than one big pudding. This recipe serves 5 or 6, depending on the size of your moulds.
The Proof Is In The Pudding – Steamed Sticky Date Pudding And Marbled Vanilla & Chocolate Pudding! Daring Baker’s Challenge April, 2010
Ingredients
Sticky Date Pudding: For the pudding:
- 1 cup dates coarsely chopped pitted
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup water boiling
- 50 gm butter , softened (at room temperature)
- 3/4 cup sugar loosely demerara (or brown) packed
- 1 egg
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- xbd tsp salt
For the butterscotch sauce:
- 3/4 cup brown sugar loosely packed
- 1 cup cream light (25%)
- 60 gm butter
Marbled Chocolate & Vanilla Pudding:
- 100 gm butter , softened (at room temperature)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg , beaten
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp milk about
- 2 tsps cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the eggless custard sauce:
- 500 ml milk cold
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsps vanilla custard powder flavoured
Instructions
- To make the butterscotch sauce, put all three ingredients in a saucepan and whisk together till combined. Over low heat, keep stirring the sauce till the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat and keep aside.
- To make the Sticky Date pudding:
- Put the dates in a bowl and add the boiling water. Now add the baking soda, mix and allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes.
- Blend the mixture till smooth. I prefer to blend till the mixture is smooth with some small date pieces in it.
- Put the date mixture into a bowl and add the butter, egg, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well with a wooden spoon till combined. Divide the mixture equally between 5 or 6 well greased moulds.
- Cover the moulds with aluminium foil squares making a fold in the center. This will allow the pudding to rise well. Tie the foil down using string or with rubber bands. If youu2019re using rubber bands, ensure theyu2019re not the kind that melts!
- Place the moulds on a steamer plate ensuring there is enough water in it but the level is not too high to get into the moulds.
- Steam cook the puddings for about 30 to 45 minutes. If you poke a skewer through the pudding it should come out clean when done.
- Remove the puddings from the steamer and remove the foil caps. Allow to cool in the moulds for about 10 minutes and then unmould the puddings. They should slip out easily.
- These puddings are normally served warm during winter, but given the heat of the summer right now, I served the puddings at room temperature with chilled butterscotch sauce.
- Marbled Chocolate & Vanilla Pudding:
- To make the custard sauce, keep aside about 1/4 cup milk aside. Boil the remaining with sugar. Dissolve the custard powder in the 1/4 cup milk and add it to the boiling milk, stirring constantly to ensure no lumps form.
- Keep stirring the mixture till the custard thickens a bit into a sauce.
- To make the pudding:
- Sieve the baking powder, salt and flour together and keep aside.
- Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the beaten egg and beat well. Add the flour and fold it into the mixture with a spoon. Add just enough milk to give the batter a dropping consistency.
- Divide the mixture into two equal portions. To one add the vanilla extract and mix well. Blend the cocoa powder with a little water to a thick paste and add to the other portion. Mix well.
- Grease individual four dariole moulds with butter or oil and put alternate spoons full of batter equally into the moulds.
- Cover the moulds with aluminium foil squares making a fold in the center. This will allow the pudding to rise well. Tie the foil down using string or with rubber bands. If youu2019re using rubber bands, ensure theyu2019re not the kind that melts!
- Place the moulds on a steamer plate ensuring there is enough water in it but the level is not too high to get into the moulds.
- Steam cook the puddings for about 30 to 45 minutes. If you poke a skewer through the pudding it should come out clean when done.
- Remove the puddings from the steamer and remove the foil caps. Allow to cool in the moulds for about 10 minutes and then unmould the puddings. They should slip out easily.
- Serve the puddings with the custard sauce.
Happy Cook says
Wow you mad two puds. Ilike the first one that looks absloutley yumm ,could be the sauce too, so i am partial.
s says
u made sticky date pudding too!!!obviously urs looks great mine looks like an ugly duckling!!! Tha marbled pudding looks sooooo wonderful.
MeetaK says
you are a pudding queen aparna! love all your variations. brava!
Poires au Chocolat says
Looks yummy. I’ve only ever made baked sticky toffee date puddings – must try steaming them too!
Renata says
Absolutely gorgeous! I’m sure they are very yummy! I love your photos!
Gala says
Your puddings look gorgeous!
shaliniv says
Awesomeeeee pudding… and tht too steamed…. am gonna try this rite away.Pls visit my website:http://www.shalinivenkatesh.co…
Nachiketa says
Hi! Aparna,Saw your blog many times but fell in love when Deeba n you hosted the Tiramisu one. Awesome stuff.That DB pushed me from the fence n finally joined the group in March, in time for the April Challenge. I made Steamed Chocolate Pudding & Steamed Apple n Caramel Pudding for Daring Bakers April 2010 – My First Challenge…Cheers,The Variable, Crazy Over Desserts – NachiketaCatch me on facebook @ Crazy Over Desserts
Avanika [YumsiliciousBakes] says
Love the variations, Aparna!!
Nupur says
Delicious! I love the yin-yang tone of the marbled pudding. You did a fantastic job adapting these!
Lisa says
Love those little puddings!
Ivy says
Great job Aparna. Love your puddings.
Audax says
I think I would go with your family and the sticky date pud for me to! Yes I agree steamed puddings have a high comfort food factor so moist yet light and so easy to make. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
Lori says
All very delicious looking!
Ruth H. says
Oh my goodness do those look good! The butterscotch sauce sounds amazing, and you made an eggless custard! I would have loved to have found such a recipe! That chocolate and vanilla swirl pudding is going on my list! Thank for your inspirational ideas from a fellow vegetarian Daring Baker!!
Yasmeen says
Simply sensational!
Sue says
I love the look of your pudding. Your custard sauce looks like a beautiful drapery. I bet the dates made this a very rich pudding. Wish I could have a bite. 🙂
elra says
Wow, your pudding look delicious! Well done for this month challenge.
A&N says
You make it sound so simple! Great job as always, Aparna 🙂
tariqata says
I’m going to try your sticky date pudding; it sounds like a delicious version of it.I only wish that when I do, my photos would come out as gorgeously as yours did!
Manggy says
I almost can’t believe how many people weren’t looking forward to this – I love traditional puddings! I like both puds you made 🙂
Maya says
The puddings look great! I made date toffee puddings too!
Deeba PAB says
Beautifully done Aparna, and beautiful pictures too. Can see the new cam at work. I’d love to try your version of the pud! Thanks for bearing with my endless questions on the challenge! Was a fun one!!
kristenly says
beautiful puddings (and photography)! i know what you mean about the suet…it turned me off the challenge for a bit too. so glad that we could use butter!
The Betz Family says
Wow, your sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce looks beautiful and sounds delicious! Great job on the challenge!
suma says
Gorgeous puddings Aparna!! Sigh!!!
culinography says
Beautiful as always! Well done!
R says
amazing!! really nice, can u substitute the egg with something else, as i am planning to make it for a friend who does not eat eggs??
Top Fuzz says
That sticky date pudding is a winner. It looks so good! I will definitely ‘steal’ your recipe at some point! 🙂 Well done!
innBrooklyn says
both your puddings look amazing: though I think the sticky date is my favourite! i love them in the individual molds too!
sra says
Why did i think puddings were easier than cakes? your marble pudding certainly needed as much prep as cake! guess i never took the flour into consideration, though I do know many puddings contain flour!
Laura says
Your puddings look amazing! I especially love how you styled the picture of the sticky date pudding. Stunning!
Yvette says
Great job on this months challenge! the sticky date pudding looks yummy;D
Mary says
Your sticky date pudding looks fantastic, and I plan to make one for the holidays (if I remember by then!). Glad your family enjoyed them:)
Cham says
The sauce flowing over looks excellent. I never tasted the puds! All came out perfectly!
crumbsoflove says
They both look great but I would like to try the vanilla chocolate marbled one!great job
Amy Lucille says
Looks really good, I will have to try to make a sweet pudding soon.
Aparna says
Thanks everyone. Really apppreciate the commnets, especially about my pictures. :)You wouldn’t look forward to it if you were like me, Mark and were asked to use suet, if possible. LOLThanks Deeba. Was happy to help. 🙂 So you give the camera all the credit for my pictures? ;-DThank you R.I have seen recipes with people using Ener-G kind of egg substitutes but never tried it as I don’t get that here.If you do a search for “vegan steamed puddings” you’ll find a recipe which suits you and can use vegetarian options for the vegan ingredients other than egg.
Ellie (Almost Bourdain) says
Absolutely gorgeous puddings! Very very nicely done.
sasasunakku says
Ooh, we did the same pud! Yours has sauce on though, I forgot to take a photo and just ate it up, hehe.
Hari Chandana says
Wowwww… wonderful recipe dear.. looks soooooooooooooo beautiful.. lovely presentation.. 🙂
jayasri says
WOW!!, excellent looking pud!!, I saw it in the DB Roll, wanted to post it on time, thought I will check later otherwise I get carried away!!, You have become an amazing photographer now my BM is becoming big!!, Look now I have to make these two!!, absolutely gorgeous they look and love the clicks too.., great presentation…
LittleRed says
I so love sticky date pudding:) We had just made some the other week so I wanted to try something else. Yours looks fabulous. I think I may need to make another:)
chef_d says
That sticky date pudding looks so delicious with the butterscotch sauce! Great Job !
Tasty Eats At Home says
I love all things date, so that sticky date pudding would be a winner in my book! Great job.
silverrock says
Your puddings are gorgeous, and the butterscotch pudding is a beautiful addition! Love your photos, good enough for a cook-book IMO. Keep up the amazing bakes!
Asha @ FSK says
that lookey very very yummy!! am yet to make mine.. where did the month go??!!! hope it turns out as pretty!
Nags says
that looks yum! i am all for steamed puds 🙂
Rosa's Yummy Yums says
Very well done! Both puddings look fantastic and extremely tempting!Cheers,Rosa
Natalie... says
Oh my this looks amazingly delicious 🙂 Yummm. I bet it tasted gorgeous.
Sunshinemom says
The first pic looks like a Princess in a gown!! So beautifully done:)
Jill @ Jillicious Discoveries says
Both puddings look and sound divine!! I especially loved the picture of the sticky date w/butterscotch pudding! 🙂
Marty says
Dried dates are a fantastic ingredient so I’m sure your pudding was delicious. Going through your blog, I see that you bake all I things I love. Great job! Thanks for stopping by at my space 🙂
NYC Personal Injury Attorney says
Such comforting desserts. Thanks a lot for sharing these ideas and recipes.
Marcellina says
Ooooh your pudding look so delicious! I particularly like the sticky date. I usually do this one in the oven in a bain marie but I must try steaming it. Lovely pics!
natalia says
Ciao ! I find all your puddings delicious !! Especially the date one the photos are great too !
Poonam says
both of them look fantastic!! love the pics too 🙂
Bridget ~The Internet Chef says
Well done for your first attempt at a British classic. My grandmothers were both artisans at the traditional steamed pudd. Lovely, comforting and tasty! Cant go wrong with a good pudding : )