Comfort Food for a crisis – five minute microwave fruit pudding

/ karen

If you’re struggling to put your mind to much at the moment, here’s a fast pudding you can make with store cupboard ingredients. You don’t even need to switch the oven on. It’s cooked in the microwave and is ready in five minutes.

INGREDIENTS

3oz margarine ( we use palm-oil free Lurpack)

3oz sugar

5oz SR flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

4 tbsp milk

Sprinkle of mixed dried fruit (optional)

1 apple (optional)

Sprinkle of Demerara sugar for the top.

METHOD

Use an electric hand whisk or food processor to mix the sugar, margarine, egg and milk. Add the flour, baking powder and dried fruit and whizz to incorporate.

Chop one apple and place in the bottom of a glass Pyrex deep dish. You can use any fruit you like. This is also nice with drained tinned peaches, apricots, mandarins, pears, pineapple. Or you don’t have to use any fruit at all, just the sponge mixture.

If using fruit, place the sponge mixture on top.

Cook in a microwave for five minutes. Remove promptly or the pudding will steam. The pudding will carry on cooking for a few minutes after you’ve taken it out of the microwave. Insert a knife into the centre to check that it’s cooked. The knife will be clean if cooked. If not put back for another minute. The pudding shrinks from the sides of the dish as another clue to check whether it’s cooked.

Sprinkle a tablespoon of golden or Demerara sugar over the top. Place under a hot grill for a minute to caramelise and brown the top.

Serve with ice cream, custard, fresh cream.

Serves 6 people and lasts 2 days if kept cool.

VARIATIONS

Instead of dried fruit add 1 heaped tablespoon of cocoa powder. You do not need the Demerara sugar topping as the cake will be brown. This is delicious with mandarins.

This recipe came from my mum and is a family favourite. I’m especially sharing this here for my youngest daughter who is buying a house in the middle of this corona crisis. As if life wasn’t stressful enough. And she will be cooking in her own kitchen for the first time in two weeks. Good luck Rachel xx

Fred, from the FrenchGardener blog (see comments below) suggests making caramel before adding the apples.

150g sugar and 50cl water in the dish for 2.30m to 3 minutes on 900w power. Then add the chopped apples followed by the sponge mixture, sounds delicious. Thanks for the idea.

23 thoughts on “Comfort Food for a crisis – five minute microwave fruit pudding”

  2. Karen the recipe is delicious and very easy to make. Thanks for sharing your grandmother’s recipe. Your dear little daughter Rachel has gotten the whole problem: poor thing. But if it is like his mother will make the move and in three days he will be cooking this pudding in his new house very happy. My brother had changed his destination because he had ascended and was moving from the island of Mallorca to the Peninsula, and when he had almost everything in boxes because when they ascend they put a moving truck for free, they have closed the island of Mallorca and the company remover refuses to put his staff at risk by working. Because he spoke to the Colonel and told him that he would give him a special pass to fly with his wife to the Peninsula and that his car and the moving truck were on a ferry that now only carries goods to the Peninsula. But since the moving company does not want to do it, it is not going to go without its things to an empty house. Total that today has started to work again in Mallorca waiting for him to make the move. Horrible. Karen forgives me to tell you this but your daughter has reminded me so much of my brother’s situation, that I couldn’t contain myself. I wish Rachel all the happiness in the world in her new house and in her life and tell her to take good care of herself, that I know she has the same heart as her Mother. For all your family, your daughters, Mr B and you, stay isolated at home until the meal is over, lots of encouragement, lots of strength, lots of health, lots of hope and lots of love. Loving caresses for Grace and Megan. Take good care of yourself all and enjoy the garden even if it is cold taking a walk through it. In good weather, garden and sit and enjoy the perfume of the flowers. Positive thoughts. All the best. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx

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    • Thank you Margarita. Your poor brother. And what a worry for you all. I do hope it is sorted out soon. Thanks for your lovely long letter, telling me all your news. I feel awful today as it’s the first time in my life I’m not seeing my mum on Mother’s Day. Lots of love to you all. Affectionate greetings. Karen xxx

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      • Thank you very much for understanding about my brother. Karen, I am sorry that you cannot see your dear Mother for the first time on Mother’s Day. But she is safer isolated. Call her on the phone and say how much you love her. Write her a letter where you explain how you feel about not being able to see her today and express all your feelings towards her. Save the letter and when you can see it give it to him. That will help you my good friend. Your dear Mother knows that you love her and understands that today you cannot go to see her in isolation. All my love and my understanding are with you. Love for everyone and the best. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx

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      • Thank you Margarita. I’ve felt so sad all day. It’s going to get much worse. There will be a lockdown after all and we will not be able to go out. It’s all so worrying. Then again, people are finding marvellous ways of coping. My daughter did a salsa dancing class in the lounge after the club she goes to did something called live streaming. It was such fun to watch and felt like a triumph! The class was on the i pad and was in real time. I even had a little go at it 😃😳👍🌱💚 xx

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      • Karen last night I saw on the news that you are going to be confined at home for a while and I remembered you a lot. That way you will be safer. I know you are sad, but you have to have positive thoughts and attitude. Like your daughter, dancing her salsa class at home on the internet live with your i-pad. A mobile phone or a computer is the same. What matters is what your daughter did, enjoy dancing salsa and having fun, forgetting about the Coronarivus. You had a good time too and you took a few dance steps, that’s what you have to do! Here in Spain there are a lot of activities that people have altruistically posted on the Internet including successful artists who give small concerts. Yoga, gymnastics, dancing, poetry reading, violin concerts, learning to paint in oils, humor, cooking classes, crafts with what we have at hand, gardening, … There is not enough to list. Surely in the UK the same thing happens, it is all about searching the internet. You learn even math !! Find something that you like and cheers you up like salsa and you hear it, and you cheer up two steps away and laugh a little. Or whatever you like. But follow the spirit of your daughter I ask you with all my heart. You are my best friend and I don’t want to see you sad. I am with otitis in the right ear and sore throat: angina. Yesterday I spent the whole afternoon half sitting- half lying on the sofa covered with a Scottish pure wool blanket that we bought at Harrods one of the times that my Mother, my sister and I went to London: we bought two classic plaid and fringe blankets , a two-meter wool scarf for my sister and a teddy bear dressed in corduroy overalls and a turtleneck white virgin wool sweater for me. Forgive me, but that blanket brought to mind this beautiful trip we made in February and it didn’t rain and it was cold, and it has so many wonderful memories. You can also take your head in things like this: you bought snowdrops with your dear mother in beautiful gardens. Remember the trips you have made with her and how well you have had together and the anecdotes. That will make you happy. Many positive thoughts and much love for everyone. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx

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    • Thank you. We’ve made chocolate and pear tonight. Delicious! Just great for much needed morale- boosting. I’m not sure of the power. It was a £100 Russel Hobbs microwave from Sainsbury’s. I don’t think it’s very powerful. Thanks re the house move. It’s been very nerve -wracking!

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    • Yes, good idea. You could use whisked bean liquid instead of egg, and fruit juice instead of milk. I have made it with oat milk, which was lovely with the chocolate recipe. Very much needed morale -boosting food. Xxx

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  6. Great way to start to use up our huge supply of flash frozen berries. As I’m eschewing wheat flour This gives me a chance to try the almond flour that I’ve recently bought.
    Thanks Karen!

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    • Thank you Suella. Almond flour sounds lovely. Please report back. I’ve completely run out of bread flour. And there’s no bread in the shops. It’s made me realise how much we rely on other people for our food. My grandparents would have been much more self reliant. When they went shopping ( with me in tow) they only took two wicker baskets. They bought sugar, meat, flour and butter and seemed to make all their meals from those and home grown fruit and veg. Grandma kept hens so always had eggs. Grandad foulds had cows when he was growing up and had a hand cart milk delivery round when he was still a youngster. Thanks for reading. xx

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