Steamed Apricot Pudding with Creme Anglaise

We made this little pudding for Fathers Day dinner. I haven't made it for years and had forgotten how delicious and easy it is.
My friend Jacquie and I were mad about steamed puddings in the early 1980's.
I did a cooking course back then with Gretta Anna who taught us how easy a steamed pudding can be. She passed away a year or two ago, but she was a great inspiration to me and a lot of cooks I am sure.
Everything can be prepared before and it can sit waiting to pop in the oven as you sit down to the main.
The creme anglaise is a cheats version and can be done well ahead too.
If you don't have apricot jam to line in the little dishes, use peach as I did for half of the puddings.


90 grams chopped apricots
50 grams sultanas chopped if large
250 grams self raising flour
juice of a medium sized orange and zest of that orange
2 tablespoons butter melted
4 tablespoons sugar
200mls milk
2 eggs
apricot or peach jam
1 teaspoon vanilla

Creme Anglaise

Cream thickened
Custard store bought
Basically its half the quantity of cream to custard. As an example, 600ml custard to 300 cream with 2 tablespoons icing sugar added. 

Simmer the apricots and sultanas in the orange juice for about 1 minute to soften. Set aside.
Beat the sugar with the eggs and add the melted butter. Sift the flour.  Add the milk and alternate with the flour a little at a time until all mixed in. If you still have a lot of juice in the soften apricots drain some off. This purely depends how juicy your orange is !!
Add the vanilla, apricots and sultanas along with the orange zest and mix through thoroughly.
Butter 6 x 150 gram pudding moulds. Place 2 tablespoons of the jam on the bottom of each mould.
Divide the mixture evenly amongst the moulds, but don't let it come to the top as the mixture will rise. Tap onto the bench to even out the mixture.
Place into a baking tray. You may leave them at this point until ready to cook.
At cooking time preheat the oven to 180C, fill the baking pan with boiling water to come half way up the sides of the moulds.
Cover the pan with buttered foil and press tightly down to avoid ant steam escaping.
Cook for 25 - 30 minutes. or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Serve with the Creme Anglaise