Despite its tempting and mysterious name, Eve’s pudding is essentially a Victoria sponge cake atop apples that have been stewed ever so slowly. It’s a wonderful family staple, easy to make with children… and delicious! Serve British-style, with warm, creamy custard.
This recipe (which serves 6) was adapted from Mrs. Beeton’s Family Cookbook.
Ingredients:
2-2¼ lbs. sharp apples (6-7)
¼ cup raisins
2 tbsp. brown sugar
¼ tsp. cinnamon
Juice of 1 lemon
Water
¼ cup soft butter
½ cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 cup flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
Directions:
Core apples and peel if desired. Cut into thin slices or ½ inch cubes. Mix apples with raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon in medium to large saucepan. Squeeze and strain the juice from one lemon and add water to equal ½ cup total. Add to saucepan with apples.
Stew apples over medium heat, stirring frequently until softened, about 10 minutes. Place into the bottom of a 9-inch soufflé pan or casserole dish. Cool to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream together soft butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks.
Whisk together flour and baking powder. In a separate small bowl, whisk egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
Stir flour into butter mixture with as few strokes as possible. Batter will be quite thick. Fold in egg whites with rubber spatula and/or spoon, keeping mixture as light as possible.
Drop batter by tablespoons onto cooled apple mixture in soufflé dish. Smooth batter dollops gently together with rubber spatula. Avoid pushing the sponge down into the stewed apples.
Bake at 350F until sponge has risen and is golden, about 30 minutes. Don’t over-bake! Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes, and serve with light cream or custard (aka “custard sauce”).
