Plum Cinnamon Batter Pudding
Plum Cinnamon Batter Pudding is an easy, sweet and fruity take on old favourites, Yorkshire pudding and toad-in-the-hole.
Just add chopped plums to a baking tray of sizzling butter then sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Pour over a simple batter of flour, eggs, milk and water, then bake. Less than half an hour later you’ll have a fluffy batter pudding full of juicy, spicy soft plums.
The edges of the bake will be temptingly crispy and chewy with caramelized sugar.
Eat with custard, cream, or ice-cream for a delicious, easy dessert. Leftovers won’t be as fluffy but will still taste good reheated.
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Britain loves its Yorkshire pudding. Most often eaten as part of a roast dinner or as toad-in-the-hole with sausages, it’s made with a simple flour, egg, and milk batter sometimes lightened with water. Baked in hot fat, it should be fluffy in the middle and crusty at the edges.
Extra Yorkshire pudding or leftovers might be eaten as dessert, served with jam or golden syrup. But I think the batter pudding recipe I’m sharing today, essentially a sweet and fruity Yorkshire pudding, deserves to be much more widely known and loved.
DISCOVERING FRUITY BATTER PUDDING
You may have heard of the French dessert clafoutis which is often described as a fruit batter pudding. However, with an almost flan-like texture it doesn’t sound at all like the fruity and sweet Yorkshire pudding I discovered in one of my 1970s cookbooks. But I quickly fell in love with the tasty simplicity of the British version. And I think you will too.
My Plum Cinnamon Batter Pudding recipe takes as its starting point the various sweet batter puddings in the Dairy Book of Home Cookery (1976). In there, a batch of Yorkshire pudding batter is poured over sweetened and spiced fruit, then baked.
While I follow the same idea, the ingredient amounts, temperatures, timings etc. are my own, finalized after tinkering with different versions.
PLUM CINNAMON BATTER PUDDING
The beauty of fruit batter puddings is that you can use almost any fruit that’s in season. Apples, pears, apricots, nectarines etc. will all work. Just peel and/or deseed as necessary then cut into chunky, bite-sized pieces. If you’ve none fresh, even dried fruit like sultanas and raisins can be substituted.
The version I’m sharing today came about after some perfect, organic plums arrived in my Moorland Veg Box delivery. With virtually all my fruity batter puddings I like to enhance the flavour with some spice. Ginger, cloves, classic mixed spice are all good. But this time I went for lots of ground cinnamon. And Plum Cinnamon Batter Pudding was born.
To sweeten this pudding, I like soft brown sugar. It caramelizes beautifully, giving a rich, toffee-like flavour.
You’ll find a detailed recipe card at the end: Jump to Recipe. But I recommend you read my step-by-step guide with images first.
YORKSHIRE PUDDING BATTER
The batter for this fruit pudding is exactly the same as for a regular Yorkshire pudding. You’ll need plain flour, a pinch of salt, 2 eggs, milk and water. Some people use all milk, but I prefer the slightly lighter texture that a little water brings. You don’t need to include any sugar at this point.
I start by cracking the eggs into the sifted flour and salt. Using a whisk, I start to beat the eggs while gradually drawing in the flour. Take your time and try to avoid any lumps.
As the mixture stiffens, start adding the combined milk and water as you whisk. By the time you’ve added half the liquid, you should have a smooth, thick batter. Now you can whisk in the remaining milk and water.
For ease of pouring later, I transfer the batter to a jug. You can use the batter straight away or prepare in advance and leave in the fridge for an hour or so.
BAKING PLUM CINNAMON BATTER PUDDING
For my sweet version, the beef fat normally used to bake Yorkshire pudding is replaced with butter. To help prevent the butter burning, I add a teaspoon of sunflower oil. As everyone who’s made Yorkshire pudding knows, both your baking tin and the fat must be sizzling hot when the batter goes in.
First though, we add the fruit to the hot butter. Unlike with toad-in-the-hole (where you partly cook the sausages before adding the Yorkshire pudding batter) plums don’t need to be cooked first. Simply distribute the pieces as evenly as you can. Sprinkle with the combined sugar and cinnamon, then pour the batter around the plums.
While the butter and tin are still nice and hot, put the tin straight into the oven.
In my oven, the pudding takes 25 minutes to get risen and cooked all the way through. Ovens can vary though, so I recommend checking after 20 minutes. If the top is browning too much, turn the temperature down for the final 5 minutes.
When it’s done, the middle of the pudding will be golden, fluffy and full of juicy, spicy, soft plums. The outer edges will be darker, crispy, and a little chewy with toffee-like, caramelized brown sugar.
SERVING PLUM CINNAMON BATTER PUDDING
Plum Cinnamon Batter Pudding will be at its fluffiest served straight from the oven. Eat it with lashings of proper homemade custard, with double cream, clotted cream or even ice cream.
If left to stand, the middle may deflate a bit. Nevertheless, for convenience I often make it in advance and reheat portions in the microwave. Even though the middle is no longer fluffy, it’s still lovely and soft: a nice contrast to the crispy, chewy edges.
Leftovers will be fine kept in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheated in the microwave.
Simple, comforting and delicious, adaptable to whatever fruit you have, I think batter puddings deserve to be much more widely known. And my Plum Cinnamon Batter Pudding is a great place to start.
HAVE YOU MADE THIS PUDDING? LEAVE A COMMENT AND RATING TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT.
Plum Cinnamon Batter Pudding
An easy, sweet and fruity dessert based on Yorkshire pudding. A fluffy centre with juicy, spicy plums, the edges crispy and chewy with caramelized brown sugar.
Ingredients
- 200 ml milk
- 100 ml water can be replaced with milk for a thicker batter
- 120 g plain flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 eggs
- 60 g butter
- 1 tsp oil e.g. sunflower
- 400-500 g plums
- 100 g soft brown sugar
- 2 rounded tsp ground cinnamon
To serve (optional)
- pouring cream, custard, or ice cream
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 230 C / 210 Fan / Gas 8 with a shelf just above the middle position.
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Combine the milk and water in a jug.
Stir together the flour and salt then sift into a bowl.
Make a well in the middle of the flour then crack in both eggs.
Using a whisk, start beating the eggs while gradually drawing in some of the flour. Gradually add about half the milk and water while drawing in the remaining flour: if you need to, use a silicone spoon or spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
When you have a smooth batter, whisk in the remaining milk and water.
Transfer to a jug for easier pouring.
Can be made in advance and put in the fridge for an hour.
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Put the butter and oil in a deepish baking tin that's approximately 20 x 30 cm (a tin with a smaller base will give a thicker pudding that may need longer cooking) and place in the oven to heat.
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Halve the plums, remove the stones, then cut into quarters (or sixths if they are large).
Stir together the sugar and cinnamon.
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When the butter and oil are sizzling hot, evenly space the prepared plums in the tin and sprinkle them with the sugar and cinnamon.
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Pour the batter into the tin and immediately put in the oven.
Bake for 25 minutes* or until risen and cooked all the way through: the fruit should be soft, and the middle of the batter should be fluffy, the edges crispier and darker.
* After the first 20 minutes, check that the top isn't browning too much. Turn the temperature down to 220 C / 200 Fan / Gas 7 for the final 5 minutes if necessary.
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Cut into slices and serve with pouring cream, custard or ice cream.
If not eaten straight away it will not be as fluffy, but still tastes good.
Can be stored in the fridge for 2 days and reheated in a microwave.
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