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Hi Bold Bakers!
My Homemade Steamed Gingerbread Pudding takes a classic cookie & bread to a whole new level! While plenty of people (myself included!) love a good, Homemade Gingerbread Man, some don’t like their cookies to be so crisp — or with so many warming spices!
[ Looking for just a loaf of amazing Gingerbread? Try my Sticky Gingerbread recipe! ]
This Christmas gingerbread pudding makes even your pickiest eater happy — and you still get that wonderful gingerbread taste!
This steamed pudding (for those who aren’t familiar with the typical British dessert, we’d call it a cake) is incredibly moist, and serving it with my Spiced Rum Caramel Sauce helps marry all of the flavors of the pudding together! My Signature Salted Caramel Sauce also works, if you prefer to omit the rum! Either way, that delicious caramel sauce balances the warm spices perfectly!
What Is Steamed Gingerbread Pudding?
To put it bluntly, this is gingerbread — but steamed! It is a typical English Christmas “pudding,” which means it is a dense, extra moist cake.
Steamed pudding gets its name from the cooking method that is used to make it. The batter is put in a heat-proof bowl and cooked by steaming. It takes a bit of time (this recipe will take you about 2 hours and 30 minutes), but the finished product is unbelievably moist and flavorful!
What You Need To Make Steamed Gingerbread Pudding
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- 1.2-litre pudding basin (or glass mixing bowl)
- Mixing bowls
- Parchment paper
- Aluminum foil
- String
How To Make Steamed Gingerbread Pudding
Less architecture than a gingerbread house, but all the flavor; here is how you make steamed gingerbread pudding (and don’t forget to get the full recipe with measurements, on the page down below):
- Butter your pudding basin and set aside.
- Sieve the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Add the fresh breadcrumbs, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice and stir everything together.
- Wrap an end of the frozen butter in the butter wrapping and, holding it by the paper end, coarsely grate the butter into the dry ingredients. When you get towards the end of the frozen butter, unwrap it and foil the rest in. Fold everything together, so the butter is evenly distributed.
- Mix in the fresh ginger, eggs, molasses (or treacle), and milk. Spoon the batter into the pudding basin, being sure to leave a small gap for the sponge to rise. Cover with a disc of parchment paper.
- Seal the basin with a layer of aluminum foil, then make sure it is sealed tightly by tying it with string. Set upon a trivet, cover with a lid, and let it steam for around 2 hours and 30 minutes. Top it with water periodically, so it doesn’t boil dry. (For more help, be sure to check out my How To Steam Pudding post for detailed, step by step, instruction!)
- Once cooked, tip the sponge pudding gently out of its basin and onto a serving plate. Pour Spiced Rum Caramel Sauce over the top and serve!
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making Steamed Gingerbread Pudding
- If you are using dried breadcrumbs, you only need 3/4 cup (2oz/57g.)
- Be sure to check out my post about How To Steam Pudding for a step by step guide!
- If you don’t fancy Spiced Rum Caramel Sauce, you can always serve this pudding with my Signature Salted Caramel Sauce!
- This pudding has a rich, caramel flavor. Use dark brown sugar to bring that out even further!
- No treacle or molasses? You can easily make it at home with my Molasses Substitute.
- No pudding basin? Use a glass mixing bowl!
How Do I Store Steamed Gingerbread Pudding?
Leftover steamed gingerbread pudding can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days!
I am a huge fan bbcgoodfood.com and that is where I adapted this recipe from. I found it in their 2019 Christmas magazine!
Make More Pudding Recipes!
- Classic Steamed Treacle Pudding
- Simplified Mincemeat Christmas Pudding
- Perfectly Steamed Marmalade Pudding
And don’t forget to buy my Bigger Bolder Baking Cookbook!
Full (and printable) recipe below!
Try These Recipes!
Homemade Steamed Gingerbread Pudding Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (5oz/142g) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (2oz/57g) dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ⅔ cups (4oz/115g) fresh breadcrumbs*
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅔ cup (5oz/150g) frozen butter
- 1 inch fresh ginger finely grated
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup (7½ oz/213g) treacle (molasses)
- ½ cup (4floz/115ml) whole milk
- Spiced Rum Caramel Sauce
Instructions
- Butter a 1.2-litre pudding basin. Set aside.
- Sieve the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.
- Add the fresh breadcrumbs, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice and stir everything together.
- Wrap the end of the frozen butter in the butter wrapper and, holding it by the paper end, coarsely grate the butter into the dry ingredients. Unwrap and discard the foil to grate the last piece. Fold everything together so the butter is evenly distributed.
- Mix in the fresh ginger, eggs, treacle and milk. Spoon into the pudding basin, leaving a small gap for the sponge to rise, and cover with a disc of parchment.
- Seal the pudding basin with a layer of foil, sealed tightly around the basin, and tie with string. Set on top of the trivet, cover with a lid, and steam for roughly 2hrs 30 minutes, topping up with water so it doesn’t boil dry. check out my post about 'how to steam pudding' for more detailed, step by step instruction
- Once cooked, gently tip the sponge pudding out of its basin and onto a serving plate. Pour over the Spiced Rum Caramel Sauce and serve hot with thick cream or vanilla ice cream.
This recipe was great – made it with leftover bread from Thanksgiving and what I had in the house. I lieu of treacle I mixed Blackstrap and regular molasses 1 part to 2 parts and liked the extra notes provided by the Blackstrap. I also used some Fabbri Ginger in syrup rather than fresh. Served it with vanilla ice cream and the accompanying caramel sauce recipe. Wonderful! Thanks!
This was delicious! I used some left over Carmel ginger sauce I had made for another dessert, which worked very well. I also used small ramekins and steamed for 60 minutes or so. Lastly, I had some left over batter so I put into a few muffin tins and Baked at 350 for 18 minutes. I was curious how they would bake. They were also very tasty. Will make this recipe again.
I made this last Christmas and we all loved it. The ingredients are all ready to go again this year….new tradition!
wow!! Such a great idea! Will be trying it out sometime!
Way too sweet for us even though I didn’t quite put the full amount of sugar. Overwhelming taste of molasses which totally masks the ginger.
My great grandmother made this ! Oh it was my favorite! Thank you for posting a much loved memory ! On my baking list tomorrow!!