Do not dessert me……………

This week it’s the turn, or should I say re-turn, of the sweet tooth.
Most times, I am happy enough to forego a dessert, picking up grapes or having yoghurt, but there are times when a sticky toffee pudding calls, and I have to turn a deaf ear.
It’s not easy!

During Hubby’s stay in hospital, he avoided the prepacked sandwiches (Listeria outbreak in the news) and opted mainly for a jacket potato with cheese, or just as a side with something else. By all accounts, the beef casserole and chicken curry were decidedly scrummy, as were the crumble and spotted dick with custard.

I cannot make custard for toffee. It’s a packet job, one where you empty the contents into a jug and add boiling water, and even then if I time it wrong, Lumps R Us make their presence known.
However, Crumble is my forte as you will realise if you read this post and Hubby did say that although the hospital one was nice, it wasn’t as good as ‘Di’s Made’.
Mum was Queen of the Steam Puddings though, using suet, flour and sugar, she’d put the mix in a basin, wrap it in a cloth and then steam it for a couple of hours (and she made proper custard too).

Now I’m lazy, and make what I call a ‘stodge’. It’s a sort of steam pudding but done in the microwave, and takes two – five minutes depending on size. If I have golden syrup, I make a proper ‘treacle stodge’, but more often than not (read because I don’t BUY said golden syrup), I throw in a handful of sultanas and voila, spotted dick.

My recipe is easy (serves 1 to 2):

2 tablespoons of SR flour
handful of sultanas
1 egg
a little milk if necessary to bind to a dryish ‘cake’ mix consistency. Do not make it sloppy.

You mix it all together then put it in the microwave for 2 minutes on high.
If it’s still a bit runny, cook it for another 1 or 2 minutes until firm to the touch.

You can add a tablespoon of sugar if you like, but for us, it’s sweet enough without.
(The same goes if using syrup, which you would put in a bowl and then put your mix, minus sultanas, on top).
If you fancied a chocolate pudding, simply add a tablespoon of drinking chocolate powder.

Note: it will rise, A LOT, so make sure your raw mix doesn’t fill your cooking receptacle.
I use a large pint mug. Also, it does not keep, and if not eaten more or less immediately, will set like concrete and you could donate it to Trump for his wall.

Now, whilst I cooked one of these for Hubby today (sorry, no picture but will try and remember next time I found these in another post),

I had to have something a bit more ‘diet’ conscious, so opted for ginger and apple crunch.

I broke up 2 gingernut biscuits (2½ syns each, as are digestives, or you could have rich tea at only 2 syns but they’re not as good IMO), and chopped up a red gala apple. I added half a dozen halved grapes, and 1 syn’s worth of fat free vanilla yoghurt.
It has a zingy taste, especially if left for a few minutes so that the ginger absorbs into the yoghurt.
It was rather nice to satisfy my sweet tooth and a good substitute for stodge and custard!

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