EVES PUDDING WITH APPLES AND PEARS + BAKED PEARS WITH MAPLE AND GINGER

A classic English pudding and a quick, syrupy batch of gingery roasted pears.

There is one thing us brits do exceptionally well and thats pudding. Any dessert that has the word pudding involved guarantee’s one thing - comfort. Steamed sponge pudding, bread and butter pudding and sticky toffee pudding to name a few.

One you may or may not have heard of before is Eve’s pudding, also known as Mother Eve’s Pudding. In essence it is stewed brambly apples with a thick, buttery sponge baked atop. It is a fine example of a simple, traditional pudding that will wrap its arms around you and tell you winter will be ok.

I like to bake mine with a mixture of apples and pears. Pears are coming into the height of their season and they love to be cooked, they turn sweet and fragrant and offset the sharp apples. Today I’m sharing my recipe for eves pudding that I make at home as well as a full-proof thick creamy custard to serve alongside.

Plus a simple recipe for baked pears in maple and ginger that turn gloriously golden and syrupy in the oven - low maintenance yet impressive, ideal with a dollop of crème fraîche.

Two simple, classic recipes for the home cook. Thanks for sticking around folks!

Esther x

Pear and apple Eves pudding

PREP 30 MINS PLUS COOLING TIME

COOK 50 MINS

SERVES 6-8

2 baking apples, cut into 2cm cubes (350g)

3 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 lemon, rind parred

3-4 pears, cut into 2cm cubes (600g)

For the sponge topping

180g unsalted butter softened

180g golden caster sugar (use normal caster if thats what you have)

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

3 medium eggs

180g self raising flour

Heat the oven to 180C/160C FAN.

Put the apples and brown sugar into a pan with 1 tbsp water, them lemon rind and 1/2 juice of the lemon. Cook covered for 5-7 mins or until the apples have softened but still have some shape. Remove from the heat and stir through the pear chunks. Leave to cool completely.

Beat together the butter, sugar and salt for 10 mins or until light and fluffy. You can do this in a stand mixer or using an electric hand whisk. Beat in the eggs one at a time then fold in the flour.

Spoon the cooled apple, pear and lemon filling into a roughly 25cm baking dish. Evenly dollop the cake batter over the fruit and smooth over the top carefully with a pallet knife - dont worry if a few bits of fruit poke through. Bake for 40-45 mins. The sponge should be risen and golden and cooked through when poked with a knife or skewer. Leave to rest for 10 mins before digging into.

Serve with custard (see below) or thick cream.

GOOD TO KNOW -

• Parring rind means to thinly cut it off with a peeler, do so gently so that you don’t take too much of the white, bitter pith off the lemon.

• Weigh the fruit for accuracy - all fruit varies drastically in size so pay attention to the weights i’ve specified.

• Bake the pudding immediately to get the best rise. The topping can’t be made in advance but the filling can be made up to two days ahead.

• Don’t cut back on the 10 minutes of beating the butter and sugar, this helps you get a lovely light sponge on top.