This marmalade pudding cake from TV chef Nigella Lawson is absolutely to die for, and easy to whip up, and she has dubbed it the ‘perfect Sunday lunch pudding’
If you are looking for a new sweet treat to impress your guests with, then you have hit the jackpot. This marmalade pudding cake from TV chef Nigella Lawson is a total crowd-pleaser, and the to-die-for dessert is so easy to make that you do not need to be an experienced baker to attempt this recipe.
This pudding looks pretty simple on the surface but the delicate cacophony of tastes will leave any guests you have over to enjoy it begging for you to share the recipe. “Now, this is a beauty. I don’t mean flash or fancy — rather the opposite; there is something austerely handsome about its appearance, and yet gorgeously warming about its taste,” Nigella explains on her website. “But then, this laid-back Sunday-lunch pudding is what kitchen food is all about. I’m happy to leave the picture-perfect plate-decoration dessert to the professional chef and patissier. When I want to eat one, I’ll go to a restaurant. That way, everyone’s happy.”
The marmalade pudding cake is the “perfect” choice for dessert after a Sunday dinner, Nigella noted when sharing the recipe on X – formerly known as Twitter. The TV chef also explained on her website that when it comes to your choice of marmalade you can be pretty flexible with this one. “I don’t want to be too prescriptive about this marmalade pudding cake — which has the surprisingly light texture of a steamed sponge — as it doesn’t seem in the spirit of things. I love the bitter edge of a thick-shred, dark marmalade and so tend to go for a proper, glamorously auburn, tawny one here; if this is too full-on for you, choose a fine-shred marmalade, instead.”
Ingredients:
- 75g caster sugar
- 75g light muscovado sugar
- 225g plain flour
- 250g soft unsalted butter (and extra for greasing)
- 225g marmalade (75g for glaze)
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 orange (zest and juice – half for glaze)
- 4 large eggs
Method:
Start by preheating your oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/gas mark 4, and then butter an 8-inch square dish – make sure it’s ovenproof. Grab a small pan and pop half your orange juice and 75g of marmalade into it, you will use this for the glaze later, so set it to one side for now.
Next, if you have a food processor, put all your other ingredients into it, and once finished simply pour your mixture into the buttered dish, scraping out any from the sides so none of it is left behind. If you don’t have a food processor, cream together both kinds of sugar with the butter then beat in the marmalade. Next, beat in your flour, bicarb, and baking powder, then the eggs, and finally the remaining orange juice and its zest.
Whichever method you follow, the next step is the same: simply bake the cake for 40 minutes, but make sure to give it a check over about half an hour in. The cake is ready when a tester comes out clean – and you should leave it in its dish ready to be glazed once it is out of the oven.
Next up, is the tasty glaze itself. “Warm the glaze mixture in the pan until melted together, then paint the top of the sponge, letting the chunks or slivers of peel be your sole, unglinting decoration on top of the mutely gleaming pudding-cake. Know that this sponge will keep its orange-scented warmth for quite a while once out of the oven, so you could make it before you sit down for the main course.”
There is nothing left to do now except tuck in and enjoy, bonus points if you serve this one with custard or cake.
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