Steamed Pear and Ginger Pudding with Cider Caramel
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A pear tree gives you everything at once — a branch bends under fruit in early October, and within four days the whole crop goes from stone-hard to sleepy. That glut is exactly what a steamed pudding is for: firm, slightly underripe pears hold their shape through two hours of gentle steam, while cider caramel sinks into the sponge from above. It comes out of the basin dark, glossy and smelling of ginger.
3 firm pears, about 1 lb 2 oz (500 g) total — Conference, Bosc or Anjou
3 tbsp (45 g) unsalted butter, for the caramel
½ cup packed (100 g) dark brown sugar
¼ cup (60 ml) dry cider, or unsweetened apple juice
1 tbsp (15 g) finely grated fresh ginger
½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter, very soft, for the sponge
½ cup packed (100 g) light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ cups (160 g) plain (all-purpose) flour
1½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp fine sea salt
3 tbsp (45 ml) whole milk
The Recipe
Butter a 2-pint (1.2 litre) pudding basin or heatproof bowl generously, right up over the rim, and cut a disc of baking parchment for the base. The caramel will glue itself to any bare patch of china, and a stuck pudding tears on turning out. Do not skip the parchment disc.
Make the caramel: melt the 3 tbsp butter with the dark brown sugar and cider in a small pan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar grains disappear, then let it bubble for 3 minutes until it darkens by a shade and falls from the spoon in a thick ribbon rather than a drip. Off the heat, stir in the grated fresh ginger — adding it away from the boil keeps the volatile, hot-citrus gingerol instead of cooking it down into something flat. Pour into the basin.
Peel, quarter and core the pears, then slice each quarter lengthways into three. Arrange the slices in overlapping rings over the caramel, pressing them down snugly. Firm, slightly underripe fruit is essential here: soft dessert-ripe pears collapse into wet purée during two hours of steam and will waterlog the sponge from below.
Cream the soft butter and light brown sugar for a full 4 minutes with electric beaters, until the mixture pales from toffee-brown to a light fawn and visibly increases in volume. Those trapped air cells are the only lift a steamed sponge gets beyond the baking powder — undercreamed batter steams into something dense and damp.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a tablespoon of the measured flour with each to stop the mixture splitting. If it does curdle, the fat has broken away from the liquid and the sponge will be coarse. Sift in the remaining flour, baking powder, ground ginger and salt, and fold with a spatula until just combined, then loosen with the milk to a batter that drops reluctantly from the spoon in about 3 seconds.
Spoon the batter over the pears and level the top. Cover with a doubled sheet of parchment and foil with a 1 in (2.5 cm) pleat folded across the centre, and tie tightly under the rim with string. The pleat gives the rising pudding room to expand; a flat, taut lid will dome, split and let condensation in.
Stand the basin on an upturned saucer or a folded cloth in a deep pan, pour in boiling water to come halfway up the sides, cover, and keep at a lazy simmer — you want slow, rolling bubbles at the edge of the pan, not a hard boil that rattles the basin. Steam for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, topping up only with boiling water from the kettle, as cold water drops the pan temperature and stalls the rise.
The pudding is ready when the top springs back under a fingertip and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out with no wet batter clinging to it. Lift the basin out, rest for 10 minutes uncovered — the caramel thickens slightly as it cools and will cling to the fruit instead of flooding the plate — then run a knife around the edge, invert onto a lipped dish and lift the basin away.
Serve warm, in wedges, with cold pouring cream, crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream. The temperature contrast matters: the caramel is at its most fragrant above 50 °C, and something cold alongside keeps the sweetness in check.
