Monday, July 19, 2010

Ginger pudding with ginger caramel sauce


I am reading The Fortune Cookie Chronicles at the moment, and author, Jennifer 8. Lee, writes about growing up in a Chinese-American household where desserts are a fairly sorry affair.  In fact, fancy baked goods are not much of a feature of Chinese cuisine at all, and most homes in China do not even have an oven. 

In having a Chinese-Australian background, I can relate to the dessert deficiency, as I'd never eaten any type of pudding (including Christmas!) until I was in my late teens.  So this is my first-ever attempt at making a proper pudding.  The recipe is from Terry Durack in Good Weekend magazine, though I've substituted my own caramel sauce, with ginger added.

Oh, and I know that it's called a steamed ginger pudding, but because I made it in a large baking dish, I didn't actually 'steam' it (by putting the dish in a baking pan of hot water).

Steamed ginger pudding with ginger caramel sauce
serves 4

Ingredients
2 tsp butter, for greasing
4 tsp golden syrup
125g butter, diced
125g soft brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
125g self-raising flour, sifted
60ml milk
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tblsp preserved or crystallised ginger, finely diced

Sauce
60g butter
85g brown sugar
2 tblsp preserved or crystallised ginger, finely diced
125ml (1/2 cup) cream

Method
1.  Heat oven to 180C.  Lightly butter a 600ml ovenproof dish and place the golden syrup in the bottom.  Or you could use smaller (4 x 150ml) dishes.
2.  Beat the butter and sugar until creamy.
3.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
4.  Fold in the sifted flour and milk alternately, to make a smooth batter. If the batter is very stiff, add a bit more milk.
5.  Fold in the ground ginger, cinnamon and crystallised ginger.
6.  Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish and cover tightly with a sheet of buttered foil.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until the pudding springs back to the touch.  If using smaller dishes, put the dishes in a baking tray half-filled with boiling water before baking (hence 'steaming' them).
7.  To make the sauce, melt the butter and brown sugar in a saucepan with the ginger and simmer for 3 minutes.  Then pour in the cream and simmer for another 3 minutes.
8.  To serve, pour the sauce over a spoonful of pudding on a plate.  Serve with cream or ice cream.

Recipe adapted from Good Weekend (26th June 2010)

From top: pudding before baking; making the caramel sauce; pudding and sauce ready to be served.  The pudding turned out to be surprisingly light, fluffy and spongey.

Serve the pudding warm with whipped cream and crystallised ginger sprinkled on top.
This was a good pudding - I am quite annoyed at missing out all those years ago.

24 comments:

  1. There's only one bad/good thing about this pudding. I've got all of those ingredients on hand in my kitchen right now. I just may have leave work early today and start making this sensational pud. Thanks for the recipe!

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  2. i never had puddings growing up either! it took me a while to get used to a xmas pud lol the ginger caramel sounds sensational

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  3. Pudding looks hot, those four shots of this caramelly ginger goodness is a great way to introduce some sweets to my lunchbreak!

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  4. Mmm ginger is one of my absolute favorite spices to use in sweets. Sounds delicious.

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  5. ohhh!! I love the look and the sound of this pudding!! perfect for winter.

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  6. *drool* such a perfect traditional winter dessert!

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  7. I feel bad fornyou missing out all those years on pudding. But I think whatnyouve made here looks fab. Think of it this way, you've got a lot of puddings to look forward to in the future!

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  8. Hehe so true about chinese dessert deficiency syndrome :P I remember trying a French dessert when I was little and thinking that it was da bomb! :P

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  9. I grew up on puddings, so very happy that you have made your first one. In fact, I have one coming up soon. :) Would you try to steam one next time?

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  10. I looove ginger!! this looks delicious and so perfect for winter.

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  11. This looks very good. I love the ginger. I think you might be able to adapt it to make it a self-saucing pudding

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  12. Ginger in puddings is a winning combination - I really like the crystalised ginger sprinkled over too. I blogged on a ginger and pear steamed pudding recently to try out the pudding basin with a lid that a friend put me onto - what a find! Makes steaming a breeze :)

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  13. I was very tempted to make this pudding too, when I first saw it. Absolutely love ginger in sweets like this.

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  14. The ginger much add lot of flavor to the pudding,love it :D

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  15. Love the addition of ginger. Makes it even more perfect for winter.

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  16. Hey Bel, don't be annoyed (smile). Just make more pudding. Yeah! I love pudding too, and yours looks expert. Oh, and the ginger is a really nice touch. I often feel that puddings are creamy and delicious but lack flavor. I can see where the ginger would come in nicely...!

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  17. With Vietnamese food having French influences meant I got a little bit of both worlds though there were so many western desserts I never ate until my teens when I understood what food was. Your pudding looks really delicious! The combination of ginger and caramel must have been really good.

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  18. With all this ginger, this is like health food, yes? Next time I get a cold I am getting my pudding on. I may seek out a cold just for this purpose.

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  19. Same! And I wonder whether that's the reason why I don't particularly like puddings...same cannot be said for cake and other desserts though!

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  20. Ooh- saw this in the magazine and made a variation on it too. Ginger is so very comforting in the cold winter months. And I understand and agree with observations on the lack of desserts in Chinese families. It's child abuse!

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  21. Oh yeah, I totally get the lack of pudding during childhood! But I didn't mind that much - there was always sweet red bean soup, sweet potato in sweet soup, glutinous rice balls, black sesame soup, etc etc. Just as good as pudding, I reckon! :)

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  22. Will this ginger pudding freeze well?

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    Replies
    1. hi Anon - I've not tried freezing this pudding. But I looked it up and it's probably okay to freeze for up to 2 months without the sauce. Defrost, then reheat in a moderate oven for 10 mins before serving.

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  23. That is so helpful. Only want to freeze for a couple of days before a party as I hate having to cook on the day I am giving the lunch!

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