The Cottage Smallholder

This is another traditional South African dessert, and perfect for this wintry weather.  It is relatively easy to put together.  My personal favourite and I think the very first thing I ever baked on my own.

Baked Ginger Pudding

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 tbsp dried ground ginger

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 level tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda, bread soda)

2 tbsp apricot jam

SAUCE:

1 cup sugar

2 cups boiling water

1 tsp dried ground ginger

Method

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.  Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (or 10 minutes, whichever comes first), add the egg and apricot jam and incorporate thoroughly.  Sift together the flour, baking soda and ginger then add this, alternately with the milk, to the butter/sugar mixture. 

In a large baking dish, mix together the 2 cups boiling water, 1tsp ginger and 1 cup sugar until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour the batter gently into this sauce, don't worry about covering the surface evenly, it sorts itself out in the oven.

Bake in the preheated oven for between 40 minutes and 1 hour, or until the sponge has risen above the sauce and is a rich brown colour.  You can test for doneness with a skewer or sharp knife in the usual manner.

Serve hot or warm with cream, ice-cream or custard.