Steamed Chocolate & Malteser Pudding

Hi folks, it’s BBC2 here, with another weather report from Cornwall, IT’S WET with a spell of rain, and more rain! We live 4 miles outside of Bude, a small town on the north coast of Cornwall, and all the rain, gales, and high tides shows you the power of the ocean. I took Max for his walk the other Saturday morning after the high tides Friday evening. The canal that runs through the centre of Bude out to the ocean had breached the seawall and flooded the high street. Whilst the shop keepers were working hard to save their business, the surfers took advantage of the situation by surfing down the centre of Bude…joy for some.

The beach had also changed, with boulders being washed up onto pathways and some of the pretty beach huts smashed to bits, I know they will be rebuilt and that the boulders will be moved but it makes me think that how quick things change and that we are all at the mercy of the elements, I have taken some pictures as you can see.

Also here is a link to an article about the damage caused by the storm:

Repair offer for damaged sea pool.

Moving on to the Steamed Chocolate & Malteser Pudding, I found a box of Malterser’s that were leftover from when I made the Chocolate “Occasion” Cake and set about thinking of ideas to use them in a sweet before they went out of date.

We had Liz coming for lunch and she and I both have a sweet tooth. So I decided to make a steamed pudding, but they can be a little on the heavy side, but by using a Victoria sponge mix method I hoped it would be lighter than a conventional steamed pudding, and with the honeycomb balls from the Maltesers it would have little bursts of chewy crunch and texture.

Ingredients:
110g/4oz self-raising flour
110g/4oz caster sugar
110g/4oz soft unsalted butter
27g/1oz good quality cocoa powder
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
55g/2oz Maltesers, rolled in flour so they are lightly dusted
900g/2lb pudding basin greased with butter

Grease proof paper
Aluminium foil

Method:
In a large bowl beat the butter and caster sugar together (I use a food mixer) until it is light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time until fluffy and fully combined. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and gently fold them into the egg mixture, now add enough milk to loosen the mixture to a dropping consistency, now fold in the Maltesers.

Spoon the mixture in the pudding basin gently, ensuring that there are no gaps or air pockets, then level the top. Make a circle of grease proof paper, large enough to fold in a pleat in the middle, to place on top of the pudding leaving enough to come down the sides, do the same with tin foil, place the greaseproof paper and foil on top of the pudding then tie with string around the top, cut the string long enough to make a handle by looping over the top to the other side of where you tied it off.

Place the pudding in a steamer and steam for 2 hours checking the water and topping it up with hot water if needed. If you don’t have a steamer you can use a large pan with lid, place an upturned saucer in the bottom of the pan so the pudding basin is raised above the hot water, it is important that the pudding does not touch the bottom of the pan, or that the water runs dry.

I must say that this is a light and smooth chocolate pudding served with custard and easy to make once you’ve made the mixture, it just needs the water level checked every so often. I look forward to your feedback and comments.

BBC1: Unlike Lizzie and BBC2 I am more of a savoury person. However, this is great. The sponge is incredibly light and the Maltesers give such a great texture to the dish. I love it and have asked… actually, demanded it be made again…