Ooey Gooey Butterscotch Pudding.

I am a great believer in breaking away from the traditional Christmas desserts if you just don’t like them. So if you are one to shudder at the thought of all that dried fruit, here is a recipe to die for. At a dinner party lately a friend of mine, who would normally eschew dessert and be Miss Healthy, finished the whole bowl while chatting. Six of us had managed to eat the other half.

What you need:

250g Plain Flour (I use white spelt flour and it works a treat)

5-6 x level teaspoons of Baking Powder.

250g Brown Sugar.

2 x Eggs, beaten.

2-3 x Bananas, mashed.

500ml Milk.

2 x teaspoons of Vanilla Extract (please use the real one)

2-3 x tablespoons of Whiskey.

170g Butter, melted. (This is not called Margerinescotch pudding, so don’t even think about it……)

For the syrup:

6oz Brown Sugar.

3 x tablespoons Golden Syrup.

8 fl oz boiling water.

10 x 10 gratin dish, large oval gratin dish or something similar (approx 2.5 ltr), buttered.
Oven to table ware is best as it is served in the dish.

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (350f, gas mark 4)

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the brown sugar. In another bowl mix together the beaten egg, mashed banana, milk, vanilla extract, whiskey and melted butter. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix gently until fully combined. Pour into your prepared dish and place the dish into an oven tray. Don’t question this, just do it if you value the cleanliness of your oven floor.

out of the oven

To make the syrup:

Put the brown sugar, golden syrup and boiling water into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for three minutes. Bring it back to the boil and then drizzle it, yes all of it, all over the pudding. Bake in your preheated oven for 40-50 minutes or until it feels firm in the centre. That firmness should not be just a crispy crust. Make sure the inside is firm too. The toothpick test may be misleading as the pudding is very moist.

Serve with whipped cream.

Whatever else you do, make sure you enjoy eating it.

With love, Margie.