steamed marmalade pudding

a recipe that feels very nostalgic (for my return to Dublin)

What I’m reading: Boys Don’t Cry, by Fiona Scarlett. I absolutely loved this - it had me enthralled from start to finish (but it is heartbreaking)

What I’m listening to: Clairo’s new album, Charm

What I’m eating: the most wonderful lunch at Sargasso on the pier in Margate (below). I’m still thinking about the anchovies

Sargasso, Margate

Hello! I am back in Dublin, a year and a half after I left last year. It’s great to be back, especially at this time of year. We have figs and plums growing on trees in the garden, the beer gardens in the pubs in Ranelagh are buzzing, and it’s perfect weather for walks in the Dublin mountains and swims in the sea.

I’ve been trying to sort through the absolute shambles that is my old bedroom - and in the process, have found quite a lot of clothes/books/knicknacks that I had forgotten I owned. All in all, it’s been a nostalgic couple of days, and the dessert recipe below reflects that mood.

Mum used to always make steamed pudding (I believe she used a Delia Smith recipe) for dessert on Sundays, and it remains a firm favourite in the family. The one we had most often was treacle and golden syrup (treacle in the sponge and golden syrup in the bottom of the bowl), but I wanted to make a version here using some of mum’s lovely homemade marmalade. I was really happy with how it turned out, and I think you could tweak the recipe to include other jams, or even perhaps honey! Mum’s marmalade is quite thick-cut, so you get the lovely chunks of orange on top - plus I’ve added a whole pureed orange to the cake mix to infuse it with even more fresh citrus flavour.

It comes together really quickly, though, and is quite a handy thing to make for dessert, particularly if oven space is limited. This pudding is quite happy steaming away on the hob for an hour and a half - just make sure you check it every once in a while to make sure the water hasn’t boiled off. We had it with custard (crème anglaise), but I think it would be equally lovely with cream or ice-cream.

recipe: steamed marmalade pudding

Ingredients (serves 6)