Despite the bad reputation that British cuisine has, it is undeniable that pastries are tremendously rich and varied. Years ago, during my time as an English student, I discovered her and fell at her feet ipso facto, but it was not until I adopted a British family as a policy that my eyes were opened to homemade sweets. They are another world.

One of the things that catches my attention the most (and it has since I started delving into the subject of British pastries) is the preparation of steamed biscuits . The fact of not depending on the oven seems like the bomb to me, as it is a welcome alternative in the hot months when we are horrified to turn on the appliance in question.

To make a “steamed pudding”, as they call it on the islands, or specifically this steamed apple and vanilla English pudding, it is necessary to have a suitable mold and a pressure cooker large enough to accommodate the first. It is also important to cover the mold well with folded parchment paper (to leave room for the cake to grow happily) and tie it well so that the water does not leak during cooking.

This type of cooking results in a juicy pudding or sponge cake , slightly more compact than the one baked in the oven. For a most “British” experience, I recommend accompanying it with crème anglaise , a vanilla ball or a splash of heavy cream. Without forgetting the cup of tea, with its cloud of milk...of course!

Laura Ashley porcelain milk jug, Laura Ashley tea towel, Laura Ashley porcelain plates, Kitchen Craft pudding pan and Pallarès carbon steel knife .

Ingredients (for 6 people)

• Half golden apple
• 6 tablespoons of honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
• 150gr of butter + extra to grease the mold
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 eggs size L (120gr)
• 150g of wheat flour
• 100g of sugar
• 1 teaspoon chemical booster (yeast for biscuits)
• 4 tablespoons of milk
• 2 liters of boiling water

Elaboration

1. Grease a 1 liter pudding mold with a little butter, covering the base and sides well. We cover the base with honey and spread the fresh breadcrumbs on top. With a very sharp knife , peel, core and dice the apple and cover the base of our mold with them.
2. In a deep bowl , we whiten the butter, which must be at room temperature, together with the sugar, that is, we beat vigorously until the mixture is creamy and pale.
3. We grate the whole lemon and squeeze only one half. Add the lemon zest and juice, the vanilla essence and the eggs, one at a time and without incorporating the second before the first is well integrated into the dough.
4. Then we add the wheat flour together with the impeller or chemical yeast. We will do it tablespoon by tablespoon and without incorporating more until the previous one is not integrated, so we make sure that there are no globs of flour left in the dough (which are very unpleasant to eat).
5. Finally we pour the milk, stir gently until we obtain a homogeneous mass and fill our pudding mold with it. It is a dense mass that we will need to flatten well with a spatula to distribute it over the entire surface.
6. Take a sheet of parchment paper or parchment paper and make a double fold in the center. We cover the mold with it, tie with a cord or twine thread and trim the excess. This type of mold has a slit a couple of centimeters from the top that is perfect as a point for placing the cord.
7. It is important to make sure that the cord is well tied and that there is no place for the water to leak, because this pudding is steamed in a pressure cooker and if water enters, the result is spoiled.
8. Place the bridge accessory (the trivet also works) at the base of a pressure cooker (be careful with the size, it has to be big enough to fit the mold) and pour the boiling water. Introduce the mold, close the pot and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, with the valve open.
9. After this time we close the pressure cooker valve in position 2 and count 20 minutes. We depressurize immediately, remove the lid and, very carefully, remove the mold from the inside of the pot. Let cool before uncovering, unmolding and serving.

Kitchen Craft Pudding Pan, Laura Ashley Tea Towel , Laura Ashley porcelain plates and Pallarès carbon steel knife .

Grades

• We can accompany the pudding with English cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or eat it as is. Either way, it's delicious!
• You can make the mixture of the ingredients in a mixer robot, KitchenAid type . In this case, you can use the rod accessory in step 2, and from there work with the flexible side mixer, at not very high speeds (4 or 5).
• If you prefer to work by hand, what will be very good for you is the WMF round tip whisk , with it you avoid lumps while mixing, and it is very comfortable to use.