Steamed Apple Molasses Pudding

A few years back our daughter, Phoebe, was living with us and helping with the CSA. She spent many hours in the kitchen testing various apple recipes. This was one we loved. Neither of us had ever made a steamed pudding before, but it turned out to be much easier than we expected when we read the recipe. This really isn’t pudding the way North Americans think of pudding - it’s more like a wonderful, moist and flavorful cake. One Thanksgiving Phoebe made another steamed pudding that called for about $10 worth of dates. It was delicious, but here in Maine we don’t need to bother with dates imported from halfway around the world. We can use local apples for an equally memorable dessert.

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup butter

  • ½ cup packed brown sugar

  • 1 egg

  • ½ cup molasses

  • 1 Tbs orange zest

  • 1.5 cups sifted flour

  • ½ tsp baking soda

  • 1 tsp baking powder

  • 1tsp ginger

  • 1 tsp cinnamon

  • ½ cup buttermilk or plain yogurt

  • 1 cup firm apples, cored and chopped

Directions:

  1. Cream the butter and brown sugar till fluffy.  Beat in the egg, molasses and orange zest.  Sift flour, measure, and re-sift with the rest of the dry ingredients.  Add these to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk/yogurt.  Stir in the chopped apples.

  2. Grease a bundt pan, and add the batter. The pan should be no more than 2/3 full. Cover tightly with foil.  Put a trivet or other rack on the bottom of a large pot, and add an inch of water.  Canning jar rings will work if you don’t have a trivet.  Place the bundt pan on the trivet, and cover the pot with a lid.  Bring the water to a boil, and reduce the heat a bit once the steam starts to escape.  Steam for 1.5 hours.  Remove the bundt pan from the pot, take off the foil, and let the steamed pudding cool slightly before unmolding it onto a plate.

  3. Serve with plain or vanilla yogurt or ice cream.