![]() Olive magazine recipe syrup sponge: microwaved. I find the dark muscovado too treacly, but the lighter version gives the sponge a subtle caramel flavour without competing with the syrup itself, which surely deserves to be the star of this particular pudding. Caster sugar is the default, but Delia uses light brown sugar, and Day-Lewis suggests either light or dark muscovado. Syrup isn't the only sweetener here, however: the base, of course, is commonly a sponge mixture, made with butter, flour, eggs and sugar. She also, and rather more cunningly, loosens the syrup with lemon juice first – without the breadcrumbs, this helps it dribble down the pudding in a most satisfying fashion. Margaret Costa's treacle sponge recipe, from her classic Four Seasons Cookery Book, mixes the syrup with one tablespoon of breadcrumbs which, I think, makes the top of the sponge a bit gummy in texture, rather like a treacle tart, and serves no other discernible purpose. The six tablespoons in the olive magazine recipe seems much more reasonable. Nigel Slater's four tablespoons seems a bit parsimonious to me, and my testing panel ask if they can can have some extra to drizzle on top. One of the joys of the traditional method is the contrast between the gooey, syrupy sponge at the top, and the fluffy stuff that sits beneath, and for this reason it's important not to stint on the initial layer of syrup. This produces a quite different kind of result: a sweet, caramel-flavoured pudding, but one with a quite uniform texture and flavour. ![]() ![]() The aforementioned syrup is generally spooned into the buttered pudding basin before the sponge mixture, so it will sit on top of the pudding when it's eventually turned out, but Tamasin Day-Lewis mixes a hefty 225g of golden syrup into the batter itself. It gives her sponge a lovely colour, but the bittersweet flavour of the treacle seems out of place – I decide the sponge itself should be quite plain, to set off the intensely sweet, sticky syrup. Delia Smith, in a rare maverick move, adds a tablespoonful of treacle to her sponge mixture in addition to the golden syrup topping. The exception is Constance Spry, who provides a recipe for a real treacle sponge which, sadly, lies outside my remit for this week. Most of the recipes I find, whether they label the dish syrup or treacle sponge, use golden syrup as the principal flavouring ingredient. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |