Recipe: Plum, rum and raisin sponge pudding

Plum pudding is the perfect summer-meets-cosiness dish.

This idea for this recipe started with a big bag full of plums, and a desire for a hot, saucy, fruit-forward dessert that wasn’t so heavy as a buttery crumble or dense cobbler.

Sponge puddings are the happy medium!

This pudding draws a feeling of cosy evenings inside, rugged up with a hot drink and a bowl of spongy, saucy pudding; simultaneously with lazy summer evenings outside, with a glass of wine and a bowl of spongy trifle, custard and fresh fruit.

It really is a dessert for all seasons.

As with most fruit desserts, you can really use what’s in your fruit bowl - use tinned or frozen fruit in winter; any stone fruit or berry will work well.

The sponge can easily be reheated the next day, and I perhaps prefer it this way; after the sponge has soaked up some of the plum juices - creating a juicy, liquid-soaked section where the two layers meet, stained a gorgeous crimson hue.

Plum, rum and raisin sponge pudding

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

• 500g plums, pitted and sliced into 8 wedges each
• 50g sugar
• 50g raisins
• 50ml rum

For the sponge topping:

• 125g flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 175g sugar
• 125g butter, at room temperature
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 100g natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Lightly grease a ceramic baking dish.
2. Place the sliced plums in your prepared baking dish and scatter over the sugar, raisins and half of the rum (reserve the rest). Stir well to combine.
3. Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, cream the sugar and butter with an electric beater for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the dry ingredients, yoghurt and vinegar. Fold through just to combine - you should have a thick batter.
6. Dollop the batter evenly over the plums and smooth the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until well risen, nicely browned and springy to the touch.
7. While still hot, brush the sponge evenly with the remaining 25ml rum. Serve hot, with plenty of whipped cream to serve.

Olivia Moore and her Taupō business That Green Olive offer recipe development, food photography — in studio or on-location — for restaurants and cafes, recipe video creation and social media content creation. Go to Olivia’s website for more recipes:www.thatgreenolive.com.

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