hot marmalade pudding
dessert recipes | serves 8
This has become a signature dish of the Three Chimneys restaurant in Skye. Its so popular that its never has been off the menu, since Eddie and Shirley Spear took over the restaurant 25 years ago. Its served with a proper egg custard flavoured with Drambuie liqueur. Other flavours could be added to the custard try vanilla, ginger or crushed cardamom. (Add a spoonful of ground coffee and its delicious with chocolate desserts.)
1 Grease a 1.7-litre pudding basin well. Place the breadcrumbs, flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Melt the butter with the marmalade, in a pan over a gentle heat, then pour over the dry ingredients and mix well. Whisk the eggs until frothy and beat gently into the mixture until combined. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in 1 tablespoonful of cold water. Stir this into the pudding mixture, which will increase in volume as it absorbs the bicarbonate of soda.
2 Spoon the mixture into the prepared basin. Cover it with close-fitting lid, or make a lid with circles of buttered greaseproof paper and foil, pleated together across the centre and tied securely around the rim with string. Place the basin in a saucepan, then pour in boiling water to come halfway up the side of the basin. Cover the pan with a close-fitting lid and simmer the pudding for 2 hours. The water will need topping-up as the pudding cooks.
3 For the custard, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar until pale and thick. Gently warm the milk with the cream until it begins to bubble. Pour the milk mixture onto the egg mixture and whisk together. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Bring to the boil very slowly, stirring all the time.
As soon as it begins to thicken, when it coats the back of the wooden spoon, remove from the heat and pour into a jug for serving. Stir in the Drambuie. Serve immediately. (Alternatively, cool the custard quickly in a bowl sitting on ice and refrigerate. The custard can be used cold for a trifle, served with frozen or chilled desserts, or reheated carefully for serving with a hot pudding.)
4 Test the pudding is done by inserting a skewer if it comes out clean, its done. Turn the pudding on to a serving dish, slice and serve hot with a generous amount of Drambuie custard.

Recipe by Michael Smith & Shirley Spear, Photography by Sam Stowell.
from
Jamie Magazine issue 7
ingredients
150g fine brown breadcrumbs
25g self-raising wholemeal flour
120g soft dark brown sugar
120g butter, plus extra for greasing
8 tbsp strong, coarse-cut marmalade (homemade is the best)
3 large eggs
1 rounded tsp bicarbonate of soda
Drambuie custard
6 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
275ml fresh milk
275ml fresh double cream
2 tbsp Drambuie (or to taste)