Upside Down Banana Pudding - a warm and sticky treat !

Well - I'll admit I'm cheating a bit here. It's a few weeks since I made this - but then again, I have been terribly behind in blogging !

Pudding is something I rarely make. However, sometimes when it's cold and dark outside it's quite comforting to make and devour a good old fashioned English pud. It's sweet and syrupy. The hot bananas are lovely and the little alcohol hit from the plump sultanas was nice but not overpowering.

This recipe originates from OLIVE magazine last year and is posted on the BBC Good Food Website here.

Apologies for the photos - they really are not good. The lighting was dismal and everyone was waiting to eat it - including Oliver who was bouncing up and down like a puppy on a lead whilst yelping "Pudding, pudding, pudding!"

It was all I could do to keep the fabric on the kitchen side as he was so keen to get to this .... It's a miracle that somehow it did not land on the floor !

Ingredients

100g of sultanas
50ml of brandy or rum

5 large bananas

75g softened butter

100g caster sugar

1 egg

1tsp vanilla

175g self raising flour

60g of pecans*

1/2 tsp nutmeg*

1 tsp cinnamon*

8 tbsp golden syrup

I ommitted the nuts and upped the sultanas only because I didn't have any and the nutmeg and cinnamon were my own additions

Soak the sultanas in rum for 30mins. Actually, I used home made apple brandy and soaked them over night in more like 75ml.

Heat the oven to 160deg C or 140deg C if fan oven

Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper. I actually used a 2lb silicone loaf mould. I did line the base with a strip of baking paper incase it needed a bit of help with all the golden syrup and bananas at the bottom. (Next time I really wouldn't worry as the bananas were nicely bedded into the sponge part and the syrupy stuff) just runs out.

Next, put in the golden syrup.

Slice two of the bananas lengthway and then cut in half across the middle. Lay the slices into the loaf tin or 2lb silicone loaf mould / mold. The bananas want to be face down and these will eventually become the top of your pudding.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and combine followed by vanilla, spices, flour and remaining bananas (mashed). Stir in the sultanas and then put the batter on top of the bananas

Bake for approx 50mins. Remove from oven and leave to stand for a few minutes before turning out.

Serve hot, as you like - with cream, ice cream or custard.

Not any good reheated on day two - so the chickens finished it. It's quite a good sized pud - easily serves six people.

Sarah-Jane Nash, December 2010 - siliconemoulds.com - the silicone bakeware specialist cook shop