Low-sugar steamed puddings please!

[HolidaysorBust]

The weather is vile and I have a yen to make a steamed pudding, but preferably with no or very little refined sugar. I'd rather not use maple syrup/honey/agave etc unless in a very small quantity. I have a steamed pumpkin pudding recipe (I successfully reduced the amount of sugar) from the River Cottage baby and toddler book that would fit the bill, but no pumpkin. Does anyone have any good recipes please?

[Blondie1984]

I've done this one before - albeit with soft brown sugar instead of the coconut sugar - and normal custard instead of the one mentioned

www.katehenry.co.uk/low-sugar-steamed-ginger-sponge-with-bay-infused-chocolate-custard/

[SurgeHopper]

I think you could replace the pumpkin with applesauce, if you have some?

[HolidaysorBust]

Ah yes applesauce - that's a brilliant idea Surge! With some cinnamon and maybe some diced apple too. Ooh, and sultanas.

[HolidaysorBust]

And I'll definitely try that ginger recipe Blondie - maybe even the intriguing bay-infused custard. I love ground almonds in cakes, and the fact it can be microwaved is (dangerously) handy. Thank you both!

[notnowlater]

Holidays would you mind sharing your recipe adaptation from the River Cottage one? Very low sugar diet here too, and haven't been able to have steamed sponge since giving up sugar!

[HolidaysorBust]

Yes of course - do you have the recipe? If so then I just reduced the sugar from 75g to about 25g. You could probably swap it entirely for dates chopped very fine in a food processor- there are various sites with conversions for sugar to honey, dates etc.

[HolidaysorBust]

I also discovered the vanilla essence trick recently - somehow it makes things taste sweeter than they are. I think it's supposed to be the association.

[notnowlater]

No I don't have the original recipe, just googled but nothing is coming up. Would you mind sharing it?
I usually omit the vanilla essence in recipes, as having looked at dozens in supermarkets, they mainly contain sugar. Which one do you use?
I find the same with cinnamon though, makes everything taste sweeter.

[HolidaysorBust]

Ah yes I do use one with sugar (the one in the brown bottle) but given the amount of vanilla extract I use I thought the amount of sugar was probably negligible. But then I'm not trying to avoid sugar altogether- just minimise it as much as possible. I'll write out the recipe and post it as soon as I can.

[SurgeHopper]

I reckon you could use mashed banana in that too

[HolidaysorBust]

Yes I wondered about banana too. I think some experimentation is called for! Okay here is the recipe:

Ingredients

For the pumpkin and apple puree:
About 500g pumpkin or squash (a large wedge of pumpkin or 1/2 a butternut squash)
4 dessert apples

For the pudding
100g soft unsalted butter
100g self-raising flour
100g wholemeal self-raising flour (Or 200g of either)
1tsp ground cinnamon
A good grating of fresh nutmeg
75g caster sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla extract

Method
For the pumpkin and apple puree, preheat the oven to 190C or Gas 5. Cut the pumpkin or squash into wedges, scoop out the seeds and place skin-side down in a roasting tray. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, peel, core and roughly slice the apples. Add to the roasting tray with the squash, re-cover and bake for a further 30 minutes or until soft. Scoop the pumpkin flesh from the skin. Puree in a blender with the apple until smooth. Leave to cool. You should have about 500g of puree; measure 200g for the pudding (they suggest freezing the rest for another pudding or using it for soup).

For the pudding, butter a 1 litre pudding basin. Combine the flours, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and 1tbsp of the flour and beat well. Gently fold in the 200g of cooled pumpkin puree. Sift in the remaining flour and fold in gently until evenly combined.

Scoop the mixture into the basin and smooth the surface. Cover the basin with a piece of pleated foil and secure with string. Stand the basin in a large saucepan, pour in boiling water to come halfway up the sides and put the lid on. Bring the water to the boil over a medium heat, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and steam the pudding for 1.5 hours, topping up with boiling water as necessary.

Lift out the pudding basin and turn the hot pudding out onto a plate. Serve straight away with cream or custard (I like it with natural Greek yoghurt).

I hope that's not some terrible breach of copyright. Apologies to Nikki Duffy and River Cottage if so...

[notnowlater]

Lovely! Thank you.