Sweet week - Pudding or cake?

Here's the solution – one recipe and you can choose whether you make individual sponge puddings or muffin size cakes. Here's Sutherland or Castle Puddings.

Most of us have heard of pound cake – in other words recipes using equal weights of ingredients. The first mention I can find is in “Eliza Acton – Modern Cookery for Private Families” - first published in 1845 and includes this recipe.

More recently it's mentioned in “Pride and Pudding – The History of British Puddings ...” by Regula Ysewijn.

Castle Puddings

butter for greasing

200g softened unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

4 large eggs

200g self raising flour

1.5 tsps baking powder

zest of 1 small lemon

jar of lemon curd

Pre-heat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

I used dariole moulds measuring 6cms x 6cms and made 12 individual puddings. You could use muffin tins for a smaller cake.

Grease your moulds – I find that using a disposable glove works well – you don't finish up with butter everywhere. You'll need a disc of baking paper for each of the bases. This is a bit fiddly but worth the effort – can be done in advance. Alternatively if you are a jam maker and have a supply of the greaseproof discs you could adapt to suit your moulds.

Using your electric mixer whisk together the butter and sugar until pale and creamy – whisk thoroughly. Add the zest of lemon and then the eggs, one at a time, mix well. Fold in the flour.

Place one teaspoon of lemon curd into each dariole mould before adding your mixture to 2/3^rd full.

Place the puddings in a deep baking dish. TAKE CARE – pour hot water into the dish halfway up the sides of the puddings. Cover with foil and bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes – check after 40 with your tester – it should come out clean.

Allow the puddings to cool. You can freeze them. If you want to microwave them then after defrosting you'll need to remove from the dariole moulds.

Serve with whatever ticks your box – custard or ice cream will do very nicely. Regula Ysewijn's suggestion is clotted cream!

P.s. My personal tip – if you decide to make muffin size cakes then use muffin cases – you don't have to butter them, just place the lemon curd into the case and add the mixture. When cooked and cooled just peel back the case and tip upside down onto your serving plate – no lemon curd will be wasted, left in the bottom of the muffin tin – a lemon upside down cake.

A little something to lighten the gloomy, depressing days of winter!