Just 7 minutes, 4 minutes prep and 3 minutes in the microwave! I love sultana sponge pudding, but sometimes life’s too short to steam it or bake it – which is why the microwave version of this is better in my opinion. This is the ultimate 7 minute sponge pudding, giving you 4 minutes to grab/weigh the ingredients and just 3 minutes to ‘bake’!
Many people would call this a mug cake, or mug cooking, but I always use a very LARGE mug, or my Pyrex jug to make sponge puddings in the microwave as I can see through the glass and it’s got the room for the pudding to grow while it’s cooking.
This particular recipe is how we always made sponge puddings in the 1980s at home. I’ll admit that I made this as it uses one portion of sultanas, which I thought would be part of my 10ADay for fruit and vegetables, but once I saw the size of it …and had eaten it … I realised it was nuts and I should have simply tipped the sultanas into a small pot and eaten them on their own. Calories of the sultanas are hardly any at all – calories in this entire sponge pudding is >1000 OMG.
Serves 1, Serves 2, Serves 3, Serves 4 – make your mind up!
The recipe is based on the weight of the egg, or eggs, you use. I used to keep the smallest egg from a mixed box to one side until the last minute in case I wanted to make a microwave sponge pudding, but this year I’ve been buying different eggs and they’re larger. This meant that I’ve had to make a sponge pudding based on the size of the smallest egg in the box, which was a lot larger than usual.
Even though it was large, I ate it all. It’d have been fine as a dessert for four people to be honest 🙂 So this recipe serves 1 greedy person, or four people who need a reasonable tasty dessert.
Here’s the recipe, also see the notes at the end:
Sponge Pudding Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- Equal portions of Self Raising flour, sugar, butter or margarine.
- 30-60 grams of sultanas.
Method:
The whole recipe is worked from the weight of the egg, still in its shell. Weigh that. When I made it my egg in its shell weighed 66 grams.
- Weigh out flour to match the egg weight. (mine was 66 grams)
- Weigh out sugar to match the egg weight. (66 grams)
- Weigh out butter/margarine to match the egg weight. (66 grams)
- Combine these three ingredients.
- Break the egg and beat it, then add it to the other ingredients – and mix them all together until they’re smooth, beat air into the mix. I used a fork in the Pyrex jug and this took me about 20-30 seconds, so you’re not beating for long.
- Now add the sultanas. I did this by eye – so add sultanas until you think there’s enough – remember they’ll plump out during the cooking, so for your first attempt aim for a weight of sultanas about the same as the weight of your original egg. Mix the sultanas into the sponge mix so they’re fairly evenly spaced.
- Place the jug into the microwave, there’s no need to cover it. Microwave on full power (800 watts) for 2½ minutes*. Let it rest for a minute or so and tip out upside down onto a plate.
NOTE: During the cooking process it will grow to double the physical size of the raw batter mix; once cooked it will be about 1½x the size of the raw batter mix. Make sure your jug/mug/bowl is large enough for this! - Slice and serve.
Sponge Pudding Recipe Notes:
This recipe works, but you need to be aware that the amount of time you microwave it for will depend on: the total volume of the mix you’ve made, the size/shape of your mug/jug/bowl, the power of your microwave.
I use a Pyrex jug as I can see what’s going on. Another way to know if it’s cooked is to run a knife round the edge and pull it out – there shouldn’t be any uncooked wet stuff on the knife.
Individual Portions:
You can, alternatively, pour your mix into individual mugs, ramekins, or other dishes, to microwave smaller sponge puddings, little individual portions – these will need to be microwaved for less time, I’d start with 1½ minutes in an 800 watts microwave, then rest it for a minute and stick a knife in the middle to check it’s not wet in the centre still.
This recipe works.
This recipe works, it’s always worked first time and every time for me – but you might be using fresher eggs, or thicker mugs, or a more powerful microwave than me – so just be aware that the first time you try this recipe you might decide it needs a tiny tweak the next time.
If it IS undercooked, then just remember “you don’t get points for presentation” and put it back into the microwave for a further 30-45-60 seconds to finish it off.
Will It Keep?
This is best eaten once you’ve made it. Make it, eat it – but if you are trying to cook ahead, or decide the mix looks large and so decant it into two mugs, then it is fine to cook it, then cover it and keep it in the fridge for 1-2 days, just reheat it in the microwave for 1 minute when you’re ready to eat it.
Can You Freeze Sponge Pudding?
Yes, you can freeze this. Just cook it, cool it, wrap it and put it in the freezer. You can defrost it and then microwave it for 1 minute, or, if you’re in a hurry, then cross your fingers and microwave it from frozen for 2 minutes…. but it might not be half as nice to be honest. Cooking/freezing/ cooking from frozen for such a fast item to make is starting to get into the realms of “a bit desperate, so let’s just take a chance and see what happens” 🙂
Menu Price – 28p:
When you walk around the supermarkets you might spot the packs of two little pots of microwave puddings, usually priced at £1-2 for two tiny pots. The quantity this makes is equivalent to about four of those pots.
The cost of making this sultana pudding will vary depending on whether you’re using premium products, or budget ranges. I made mine with budget ranges, so you can see from the photos they work a treat. Here are the costings based on budget range prices:
1 egg 8p, sugar 6p, flour 2p, margarine 12p. 28p + the cost of the sultanas.
If you’re serving four people this is a 7p dessert!
2022 Price Update
With the current cost of living crisis, I thought I’d take another look at the cost of steamed puddings. There’s little difference. The cost of this can still be achieved in a 30-35p budget.