Treacle Sponge Pudding

This is a deliciously simple pudding that really tastes great. You can really let yourself go crazy if you want to change it, as the simplicity of it makes it so easy to make little alterations. The most common variations include using orange or lemon rind, or syrup instead of treacle, and adding dried fruits.

200g self-raising flour
200g soft light brown sugar
200g butter, softened
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1 tbsp treacle
3 tbsp golden syrup
3 large eggs


Step 1
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, then add the butter, eggs, treacle and sugar. Mix well with an electric whisk, or whisk, until smooth. Lightly grease a pudding basin with butter, and spoon the syrup into the pudding basin before adding the mixture.


Step 2
Seal the lid and wrap the pudding basin in tin foil, and steam the pudding for 2 hours, checking occasionally on the water level to make sure that it doesn't boil dry.

In the pudding I've made there's no treacle, and there's a little grated lemon rind in the pudding itself. Now if you like a lot of sauce you can make a separate sauce for the pudding out of golden syrup, a bit of water, treacle, sugar, etc. I made mine with golden syrup, lemon juice, and chopped apricots.