The Queen of Puddings is one of my favourite puddings, it’s a last meal choice I think. It’s the ultimate in comfort cooking and a good one for when the nights are drawing in and the weather is getting chilly. I made the one in the picture today for after our sunday lunch and it didn’t last long. It’s an easy pudding to do for sunday lunch because you can cook it in advance to the stage before you put the meringue on top and that last stage takes less than five minutes to prepare, with 10- 15 minutes cooking, so if you do it just before you are ready to serve the sunday lunch, pudding will still be warm when you are ready to eat it . I made this one with damson jam because that is what I am enjoying at the moment, but you can use any jam you like. Strawberry jam is a very good choice indeed!
Serves 6
100g (4 oz) white breadcrumbs
1 pint (570ml) whole milk
10 g (½ oz) butter
grated rind of 1 lemon
4 eggs
40g (1½ oz) caster sugar
4 tbsps of the jam of your choice
Method
Separate 3 of the eggs, putting the whites to one side to make the meringue later and add the yolks to the remaining whole egg, beating them lightly together.
Heat the milk in a small saucepan to boiling point, remove from the heat, stir in the butter, lemon rind and breadcrumbs. Leave for 20 minutes for the breadcrumbs to swell.
Put the jam in the bottom of a deep baking dish (one that has a three pint capacity). Add the yolks to the breadcrumb mixture,combining well, and pour this mixture over the jam. Put into the centre of a preheated oven at 180°c (350°f, gas mark 4) and bake for 20-25 mins until set. Leave to cool.
Beat the egg whites until stiff then add the sugar a teaspoonful at a time whilst still whisking. Spread this meringue mixture over the top of the pudding. Bake in the oven at 180°c for 10-15 mins until the meringue is golden brown. Serve whilst warm, but should you have any left, which is doubtful, then it is also lovely cold the next day.
