Steven Carter-Bailey

Why it earned the handshake

This is school pudding with a hidden reveal: a lemon sponge is steamed until tender, then striped from the inside with blackcurrant sauce and served with vanilla custard. The official recipe’s cooking-syringe finish makes the cut-open moment part of the bake rather than an afterthought.

Ingredients

Sponge

• Finely grated zest of 5 unwaxed lemons
• 175g self-raising flour
• 175g unsalted butter, softened
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 2.5ml vanilla extract
• 3 eggs, beaten

Blackcurrant sauce

• 200g fresh or frozen blackcurrants
• 50g light muscovado sugar
• Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
• 60ml crème de cassis or blackcurrant liqueur

Custard

• 125ml whole milk
• 125ml double cream
• 2.5ml vanilla bean paste
• 3 egg yolks
• 45ml caster sugar

You will also need a greased 27cm disc of baking paper, a 1-litre greased pudding basin, a 27cm foil disc, kitchen string, a large pan with an upturned saucer, and a cooking syringe or meat injector.

Method

1. Put an upturned saucer in a large pan and add hot water to about one third of the pan’s depth. Make a crease across the greased baking-paper disc, turn it, and crease again; repeat with the foil disc.
2. Mix the lemon zest and flour. In a separate bowl beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla until pale, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour and zest mixture.
3. Spoon the batter into the basin and level it. Cover with the baking paper, greased side down, then the foil. Tie the cover around the rim and make a doubled-string handle across the top.
4. Set the basin on the saucer. Add hot water to about one third of the basin’s height, cover the pan, and simmer gently for 2 hours, topping up the water when needed.
5. For the sauce, simmer 150g of the blackcurrants with 100ml water, the muscovado sugar, and lemon zest for 5–7 minutes, until the fruit has released its juice and the liquid has thickened.
6. Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the remaining blackcurrants and crème de cassis. Cool, strain the juice into a jug, return the fruit to the pan, and load the juice into the syringe.
7. Near the end of steaming, make the custard. Heat the milk, cream, and vanilla until just below a boil. Whisk the yolks and caster sugar until pale, slowly whisk in the hot dairy, then return it to the pan. Stir over medium-low heat until it coats a spoon; do not boil.
8. Lift out the pudding, remove its cover, loosen the sponge, and rest it for 5 minutes before turning it onto a warm plate.
9. Inject the blackcurrant juice into the pudding while slowly withdrawing the syringe, repeating across the sponge to create stripes.
10. Warm the remaining fruit and juice together and serve with the pudding and custard.

Baker’s tips

• Keep the water at a gentle simmer and check it periodically; a dry pan can damage both basin and pudding.
• Grease and crease the cover so steam can expand without forcing water into the sponge.
• Let the pudding firm for a few minutes before turning it out, then inject while it is still warm.

Make-ahead

The pudding is best served warm. The sauce can be made ahead and chilled; rewarm the fruit and juice gently before serving. Make the custard close to serving time.