Rhubarb and Apple Eve's Pudding

When it comes to dessert Mr M is definitely a traditionalist and counts Sticky Toffee Pudding and Fruit Crumbles both served with custard amongst his favorite. My own dessert preferences are for lighter pud's, generally containing berries, meringue and served with ice cream, although the contents of our fruit bowl and freezer generally lend themselves better to Mr Ms preferences to my own. Last week a census of our fruit bowl and freezer led to the discovery cooking apples and frozen rhubarb that would normally become a Mr M pleasing crumble. I had recently been contemplating the joys of 'Soup and a Pudding' (a very Scottish meal, I think, where dinner consists of a bowl soup followed by a warming dessert and bypassing the inconvenient main course) and the wonderful 'puddings' my mother produced during my childhood. My personal favorites were Queen of Puddings or Lemon Meringue Pie, but the crispy meringue that appealed so much to me is a big no no for Mr M, but an Eve's Pudding seemed like a good use of the fruit and a pleasant change to the inevitable crumble.

This most traditional of British puddings consists of finely sliced apples topped with a light Victoria sponge mixture, and as the cake cooks the apples stew. My own version is a twist on the classic with the addition of rhubarb, which add a tartness to the sweet apples. When I repeat this recipe I am planning to increase the amount of fruit as I thought the fruit to sponge ratio a little mean.

I apologise for the mixture of weights used for the recipe below, I generally weigh in metric when cooking but I learned from my mother and grandmother in pounds and ounces and still find the 4, 4, 2, 4 method best for remembering Victoria sponge quantities.

Rhubarb and Apple Eve's Pudding

(Serves 4-6)

For the fruit:

200 g Frozen rhubarb, defrosted

400 g cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

50 g golden caster sugar

For the sponge:

4 oz margarine

4 oz golden caster sugar

2 medium eggs

4 oz self raising flour

• Preheat the oven to 180oC (175oC fan assisted)
  
• Layer the fruit and sugar in the base of an oven proof dish.
• Make the sponge mixture by creaming the sugar and margarine together in a large bowl, add the eggs one at a time along with a little flour, and then whisk in the remaining flour.
  
• Bake in the preheated oven for around 30 minutes until the sponge is cooked.
• Serve hot from the oven with custard or ice cream. Also delicious cold the next day.