Sometimes a meal just doesn’t feel finished without a pudding. Often a sweet ending can provided by a yoghurt or some fruit but every now and then, special measures need to be taken. Last night was one of those times. Tea was rather light and I’d cruelly baked chocolate cake but it was cooling and wouldn’t be ready for hours. The fridge was bare of any tempting desserts for Jef.
The solution – almost-instant microwave sponge. Now, this should really be sold as a “mug cake” but we’ve found that our mugs are just a little bit too small for this to be a viable idea. (Of course it’s the mugs that are too small, not that we’re too greedy!)
Here’s how to ensure that you’re never more than five minutes away from sticky treacle sponge pudding:
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp self raising flour
- 4 tbsp golden caster sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 3 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- A few drops vanilla essence
- Golden syrup, ideally the squeezy type
- Cream, to serve
Method
- Drizzle golden syrup to coat the bottom of a medium bowl.
- (You’ll need a mug or jug for the mixing stage. I know this defeats the object of keeping the washing-up to a minimum. Sorry about that.) Add the flour and sugar to the mug and mix.It’s not easy to photograph inside a microwave
- Add the egg to the mixture. Mix in as much as you can but don’t worry if there’s still dry mix left.
- Add the milk, oil, vanilla and another healthy squeeze of golden syrup and mix until smooth.
- Pour mixture into the bowl, on top of the golden syrup.
- Centre the bowl in the middle of the microwave oven and cook on high for 4-5 mins, or until it has stopped rising and is firm to the touch. Watch it rise as it cooks!
- Add extra golden syrup and cream to serve. Beware: the syrup will be fearsomely hot.
