Syrup sponge pudding - in 10 minutes flat

I love M, really I do. His penchant for nursery food is all part of the attraction - central to this being his love for gooey pud. To you and me? Syrup sponge pudding. When we go to visit his parents it's inevitably on the table, and that's fine - but it has to be steamed - which means, the hob on for aaaages. And aside from the time element, I've only got 2 pots big enough for steaming, and one of them is my maslin. 

So, it was clear this needed to be adapted so that it was tiny galley kitchen friendly. Nope, I had no idea how to go about that either. And then at a Guide sleepover, one of our leaders knocked up some steamed puddings in the microwave. No, me either! So that got me thinking - seeing as it's M's favourite, and we have a microwave, I should probably be the good partner and knock one up for him. 

The first time I made it - it was dry, getting it cooked through without the top being crunchy was clearly more of an art than I'd hoped. This time I put a couple of tablespoons of water on top of the sponge mix and then covered the basin with cling film which I then pierced. 

Gooey pud a la ping (serves 4) 

2oz softened butter
2oz caster sugar
2oz self raising flour (weigh out and remove 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons custard powder
1 large egg
2 dsps double cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tablespoons golden syrup

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy 
Add the egg and vanilla and continue beating (add a tablespoon of flour if it looks like it's going to curdle)
Fold in the flour and custard powder
Add a couple of dessert spoons of milk/ cream (whatever you've got around really) 

Pour the golden syrup into a pudding basin or microwaveable bowl (I only have one and it's really too big, a 1 pint pudding basin would be perfect for this quantity)
Top with the sponge mixture
Microwave on full power for 5 minutes
Remove and peel the cling film away from you as there's lots of steam
Cut into quarters and serve - it's super hot so it doesn't hurt it to sit around for a minute or two

Serve with custard, cream or ice cream

The custard powder lightens the sponge, which being cooked in the microwave, helps immeasurably, and the cream helps keep it moist without loosening it up too much. I've tried milk, but as we only have skimmed it didn't help as much as I hoped - semi skimmed or full fat milk might do better. 

Now, I'm not saying this is haute cuisine, or anything particularly fancy - but as a Sunday night pudding after a roast, it's yummy. Comforting, sweet (but not tooth-achingly so) and home made.