Browse All Recipes

Treacle pudding with vanilla custard

Savour it one sweet spoonful at a time.

By Lisa Featherby
  • 20 mins preparation
  • 1 hr 45 mins cooking plus chilling
  • Serves 6 - 8
  • Print
    Print
Treacle pudding with vanilla custard
Don't feel like making custard? Just serve this English comfort classic with thickened cream or ice-cream instead. Or, for something different, drench it with milk for flavours reminiscent of Latin America's tres leches, or three-milks cake.

Ingredients

  • 120 gm treacle, plus extra warmed, to serve (⅓ cup)
  • 120 gm softened butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 120 gm caster sugar
  • 230 gm self-raising flour
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 160 ml (2/3 cup) milk
Vanilla custard
  • 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
  • 600 ml pouring cream
  • 300 ml milk
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 150 gm caster sugar

Method

  • 1
    Preheat oven to 150C. Pour treacle into a buttered 1.2-litre ceramic heatproof bowl or dish, or a pudding mould and set aside. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and creamy (2-4 minutes). Sieve flour and baking powder over butter, then add egg and milk alternately, a little at a time, and beat until smooth. Transfer to prepared dish, smooth top and cover directly with a round of baking paper. Cover with foil, secure with kitchen string to prevent water seeping in and place in a large roasting pan. Add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the dish and bake until puffed and
    golden, or a skewer inserted withdraws with moist crumbs only (about 1¾ hours; add more water if necessary).
  • 2
    Meanwhile, for vanilla custard, place vanilla bean and seeds, cream and milk in a saucepan over medium heat and bring just to the boil. At the same time, whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until very thick and pale. Carefully pour hot cream mixture over egg mixture, stirring continuously, then transfer to a clean pan. Cook, stirring continuously, over low-medium heat until mixture thickly coats the spoon (10-12 minutes). Strain into a bowl placed over ice and cool completely or serve the custard warm.
  • 3
    Turn hot pudding out onto a plate, drizzle with extra treacle and serve with custard.
SHAREPIN
  • undefined: Lisa Featherby