A comforting and cozy vegan self saucing pudding with all the flavours of gingerbread.
It's mid-winter here in New Zealand, days are short and our evenings are cold and dark. I'm making the most of it with all the winter cooking - soups, mushroom bolognese on the regular, and of course, cozy desserts.
This self saucing pudding might just be the fortification you need to power through some binge-worthy television viewing in your favourite stretchy pants. At the moment I'm loving The Bear, Valeria, and Sweet Tooth, which was made here and has captured the heart of my young teenager.
I first created this recipe for my column in Nourish Magazine, a magazine featuring everything local in my part of the world. It's about time I share it with you, too.
Enjoy!
Vegan self saucing pudding
Does self saucing pudding even need an introduction? If you're new to the idea it's a basic cake batter base with wet sauce ingredients poured over. Once cooked, it becomes a hot and steamy pudding floating in a pool of rich sauce.
This delicious vegan version of the classic dessert mostly uses common pantry ingredients to recreate all the flavours of gingerbread, with the exception of molasses, which adds dark complexity and helps achieve that authentic gingerbread taste. Molasses is also a great source of iron and calcium, which has to be a bonus in a dessert recipe!
But I understand, molasses isn't in everyone's pantry and you might not want to buy it for just one recipe. If you don't have it, simply replace it with more golden syrup. The overall flavour won't be as dark and complex, but it will still be delicious.
While this is a vegan recipe, you'd never know it. Egg isn't necessary, and it was a cinch to swap out dairy for plant-based milk (I used almond milk), and to swap butter for oil (which creates a moister pudding too). The pudding is fluffy and moist, with a decadent and richly spiced sauce.
Plant-based or not, serve this with a good vanilla icecream and watch it disappear.
Need something for dinner before diving into dessert?
- Beetroot falafel with tahini sauce
- Mushroom korma with chickpeas
- Potato, cauliflower and lentil salad with curry tahini dressing
- Vegetable and olive tagine
- Mushroom risotto with saffron and sage
Get the recipe
INGREDIENTS
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups self-raising flour
- ½ cup soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon mixed spice
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup almond milk
- ½ cup grapeseed oil (or other neutral flavoured oil)
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
Sauce ingredients:
- 2 cups boiling water
- ¾ cup soft brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon golden syrup
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fanbake) or 390°F.
- Mix dry pudding ingredients together in a large bowl.2 cups self-raising flour, ½ cup soft brown sugar, 1 tablespoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon mixed spice, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Mix wet ingredients together.1 cup almond milk, ½ cup grapeseed oil, ¼ cup molasses, 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Pour into a greased 8 cup capacity casserole dish.
- Mix sauce ingredients together until sugar is dissolved, then gently pour over the pudding (this is easiest to do with the dish already on an oven rack).2 cups boiling water, ¾ cup soft brown sugar, 2 tablespoon golden syrup, 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- Bake for 35 minutes, then allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
RECIPE NOTES
- Molasses can be substituted with golden syrup if needed.
- First published in the Winter 2022 edition of Nourish Magazine.
Yvonne Elsom
Thank you for this recipe.
It reminds me of growing up in NZ with the delicious puds.
I live in British Columbia Canada now, and we have maybe one - one 1/2 months of summer left, then it will get cooler, and your warmer weather will come.
I have bookmarked this to make for later on in the year. Yum
Sheila
Your cooking temperatures are not equivalent. 200 degrees Celsius is 392 degrees Fahrenheit (not 360 as you suggest). Or, if you intend the dish should be cooked at 360 Fahrenheit, then those working in Celsius should set their ovens to 182 degrees (not 200).
Amber
Thanks for picking that up Sheila, you're quite right, I must have made a typo. This has now been corrected.