Baking is like chemistry so your measurements need to be precise. When I bake I use both measuring cups and digital scales to ensure I have the right proportions of ingredients. When recipe testing, I scribble those measurements down in a notebook as there’s nothing worse than not being able to recreate a culinary masterpiece!
I’d be lost without my measuring cups so when I saw these pretty Stephanie Alexander copper measuring cups, I knew I had to have them. Not only do they look beautiful, but they are also practical.
Like most of you, I have a copy of Stephanie Alexander’s The Cooks Companion on my shelf and refer to it frequently. It’s an authoritative tome and I can’t imagine that Stephanie would lend her name to a product that wasn’t well made. The cups are made from copper-plated brass and the set includes a 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup and 1/4 cup measuring cups.
I looked through my recipe archives and chose a recipe that primarily uses cup measures to feature these pretty measuring cups. As it’s been wintery here I chose this recipe for rhubarb and ginger puddings served with a delicious caramel sauce. It’s a one-bowl melt and mix recipe so once the rhubarb has been prepared, it doesn’t take long to get these into the oven. If you find it hard to get rhubarb, you can use diced apple or pear in the puddings soaked in apple juice.
Here’s the recipe for you. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.
Little Rhubarb and Ginger Puddings with Caramel Sauce (makes 4 200ml ramekins or 6 150ml ramekins)
Ingredients
Puddings
- 1¼ cups diced chopped rhubarb stalks
- 1 (20 ml) tablespoon orange juice
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch salt
- ¼ cup almond meal
- 100 g (3½ oz) melted, unsalted butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 35 g (2 tbs) finely chopped glace or crystallised ginger
- ¼ cup milk or orange juice
Caramel Sauce
- 150g brown sugar
- 120ml cream
- 140g butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease and flour four 200 ml or six 150 ml ramekins.Combine the rhubarb and the orange juice in a small bowl. Set to one side for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, ginger, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a small bowl. Stir the almond meal through the flour and set to one side. In a medium-size, bowl combines the melted butter, the sugars and vanilla. Add the eggs and beat until well combined. Add the flour and gently fold in the diced rhubarb and juice and the finely chopped ginger. This should make a soft batter. If not then add the additional milk or orange juice.
Spoon the batter carefully into the prepared moulds, no more than 2/3 full, and smooth the tops. Place the ramekins onto a baking sheet and place on the middle shelf in the oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 180°C/350°F or until the cake is cooked when tested with a skewer. If the cakes are browning too quickly you may have to cover the top with a piece of greaseproof paper.
While the cakes are baking, make the caramel sauce. Put all sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stir until smooth and then boil for three minutes. Keep warm.
Place the ramekins on a wire rack and allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the moulds and carefully invert the cakes. If the cakes are peaked, you may need to trim the tops so they'll sit flat on the plate. Serve topped with caramel sauce, some poached rhubarb and a dollop of cream.
This is definitely a no-hassle one-bowl melt and mix dessert pudding that Nona always had ready after dinner. Do you think you will try this recipe? Let us know!
Next Dessert Recipe: Molten Skillet Brownies
