Jam Steamed Pudding

There are a lot of things we can learn from our kids.  A WORLD of lessons. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how they are motivated by so many of the same things adults are.  Yet, they lack the self-consciousness to hide their desires, what makes them happy, or the gravity felt over small, everyday disappointments. This can teach us a lot about how we interact with all of the people in our lives, big and small.

On birthdays while we eat cake, we talk about the ways in which the birthday boy or girl grew that year.  Each person at the table tells the birthday girl/boy something they like about them. Since Emmett’s birthday was at the end of February, his experience hearing all of the things his family members love about him is fresh.  And he reminds me all the time of how much he enjoyed hearing those things. Which, in turn, reminds me that I should spend a lot more time telling the people I care about it what I like about them. So that’s a late arrival to the New Year’s Resolution list.

Although I could do better in this regard, and I intend to, I already do one thing to express how I feel about my family and friends. I cook for them. This particular recipe, much loved by Paul and the kids, is just that sort of thing. It’s the taste equivalent of a warm hug. All comfort and simplicity.  

I’ve taken a recipe by Rachel Allen (also featured here and here) and adapted it to the pressure cooker so that’s it’s easy enough to whip up on a weeknight. Although, if I’m being honest, I never have the energy to make scratch desserts on a weeknight - which is probably not a bad thing.

Jam Steamed Pudding

Adapted from Rachel Allen’s book Bake, serves 10-12*

*I actually halved this recipe which feeds six adults or 4 adults and 3 littles

• 7 ounces of butter, room temp
• 7 ounces of sugar
• Zest of one lemon
• 3 large eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 9 ounces all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons buttermilk (or milk with one teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice left on the counter for 15 minutes)
• 4 ounces of jam of your choice (Rachel uses raspberry, I used strawberry because that’s what the kids like best)

Prepare a heatproof container that fits into your pressure cooker by spraying with cooking spray. I used a glass pyrex bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter, sugar and zest together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add vanilla and eggs to the butter-sugar mixture one at at time until thoroughly combined.

Add dry ingredients to the egg-butter-sugar mixture until just combined.

Gently stir in buttermilk.

Add jam to the bottom of your prepared bowl.

Pour batter over jam (batter is very thick and stiff, this worried me, but it was all good, Rachel knows what she’s doing).

Fold a long piece of foil in thirds and place under your bowl.  This will serve as a handle for you to lift the pudding out of your pressure cooker when once it is done.

Place the steamer insert into your pressure cooker and pour 2-3 cups of boiling water into the bottom of the cooker.  

Using your foil handle, slowly lower the bowl into the cooker.

Close the lid, leaving the valve open, set the cooker to simmer and set a timer for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, close the valve on the cooker, and cook for 35 minutes at high pressure, letting the pressure reduce naturally at the end of cooking.

Once the pressure has gone down.  Open the lid of the cooker and carefully lift the pudding out, using your foil handles.

Allow pudding to rest about 10 minutes before inverting onto a plate.

Serve with generous lashings custard.