Newsletter # 57 – Self-saucing Puddings

In my early teens I used to accompany my Dad for the weekly Saturday trip to the supermarket. It sounds like an unlikely combination, but I think Mum taught Art classes on a Saturday morning. At that time we had continued to shop at West Ryde even though we had moved to the suburb of Epping. What passed for an up-to-date supermarket then was ‘Flemings’ – remembering this was a few years before the big supermarkets appeared.

Flemings was great as it had a basket elevator which took your groceries to the upstairs car park. Cold meats, fruit and veg, butcher and the PDF store were other places we visited as their produce was not available in Flemings. Dad was clinical in his shopping methods and together we worked as a ‘well-oiled machine’. The real highlight was stopping for a milkshake on the way home.

Naturally shopping in any supermarket 60 or so years ago was unlike the same experience today for the range of goods was far less and the pre-prepared / convenience foods that we enjoy today basically didn’t exist.

One exception was packet cake mixes for when they hit the shelves they were eagerly embraced by shoppers. This retail product had been around since the late 1940’s in the U.S.A. using powdered egg, but the introduction of adding fresh eggs in the 1950’s gave them an uptick in sales.

In Australia the variety of cake mix available in shops kept growing until a substantial amount of valuable shelf space was being taken with up with White Wings and Betty Sydney products. Products would come and go but ‘Vanilla Snow cake” seemed to stay for many years.

In addition to cake mixes, supplementary products such as pancake, pikelet and American style frosting mixes started appearing. The standout product for me was the self-saucing pudding mix. This product confused me for a number of years. I mean how could the watery topping end up underneath the pudding after it was cooked? Of course, I know why now, but it must have been an interesting product to develop.

Supermarkets today still have these same products, although they command less of a presence these days thanks to the competitive nature of supermarkets and the resurgence in home baking.

The Self Saucing Pudding

There are basically two main streams of cooking. One is the baking / pastry trade and the second is commercial cookery, which is the one I studied. Between the two there are lots of sub-categories or specialities but it would be fair to say that both trades interlock occasionally. As an example, a baker would need to know how to make a meat pie filling while a commercial cookery chef should be able to bake a Victoria Sponge.

As I have previously mentioned, the science attached to baked goods is critical, and that is why measuring ingredients and temperatures is crucial to success. Again, as an example, if a sponge is not rising in the oven as it should, because you missed an ingredient, you’ll have to live with the mistake. On the other hand, correcting the consistency of a stew can be handled with the addition of stock or a thickening agent.

The science behind self-saucing puddings which eluded me 60 plus years ago is relatively easily explained. The uncooked pudding consists of two components. The first is the sweet batter which goes in the bottom of your greased baker. The second component is the hot sweet liquid which is gently placed on the top of the batter. During the baking process the raising agent in the batter react and pushes the batter up while the liquid, being denser, finds its way to the bottom of the dish to form the syrupy sauce.  The hot liquid on top is crucial as it initiates a permeable barrier on the surface of the batter leaving the only place for the liquid to go is down.

Self-saucing butterscotch pudding

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Servings: 6 servings

Course: Dessert

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the batter

• 100 g unsalted butter softened
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or essence
• 1 egg
• 1⅓ cups self raising flour
• pinch salt
• ½ cup milk
• a little extra butter to grease your baker

For the topping

• ¼ cup 40g brown sugar
• ¼ cup (80g) golden syrup
• 40 g butter
• 1½ cups boiling water

Equipment

• For this recipe I prefer a clear glass baking dish which also allows you the chance of watching the pudding bake in the oven. You may find it easier to mix this small amount of batter by hand, while a jug suitable for hot liquid is also needed.

Method

 

Method (batter):

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180c
2. Assemble your ingredients
   
3. In a mixing bowl combine the butter, brown sugar and vanilla
   
4. Mix well
5. Incorporate the egg
   
6. Mix till emulsified
   
7. Add self-raising flour and salt
   
8. Mix well
   
9. Finally mix in the milk
   
10. Form a smooth batter
    
11. Pour this batter into your greased baker
    
12. Spread the batter to be reasonably even

Method (topping):

1. Combine the brown sugar, golden syrup, butter and boiling water in your jug
2. Stir these ingredients until the butter has melted
3. Keep very hot
4. Close to the surface gently pour this syrup over the top of the batter – over the back of a soup spoon will help disperse the liquid
   
5. Place your baker into your oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.
   
6. When ready, bring out of the oven
   
7. Let the pudding stand for 15 minutes
   
8. Serve with vanilla ice cream
   

Notes

After you take the pudding out of the oven it will deflate a little