Golden Syrup is a British triumph in the field of food.
Created in the 1880s, this thick and sticky amber-coloured treacle is like no other syrup there is. Far thicker than maple syrup, not at all as bitter as treacle or molasses, Golden Syrup really is unique in it’s rich, sweet flavour and texture.
My most favourite way to enjoy it is as a gooey layer atop a sponge pudding only now, I make it in my pressure cooker. I give you, my Instant Pot Steamed Syrup Sponge Pudding.
Classically, a steamed pudding is cooked in a large pan of water on the stove top for several hours.
There’s something charming about hearing one putter about, as often the lid of a jam jar is used to lift the basin off the bottom of the saucepan and of course, as it cooks and releases the aroma of that sweet syrup, there’s nothing more homely.
But it does take a long time and you have to keep on topping up the water or your pan will burn if it all evaporates off. I think that’s something old school British home cooks have done once!
It had actually been quite some years since I’ve made a Steamed Syrup Sponge Pudding but it was something I would make regularly growing up.
Now I am a certified overly-enthusiastic Instant Potter, I felt the need to experiment until I came up with the perfect ratio of ingredients and the best cooking method to make this nursery-food pudding in the IP.
Hungry Hubby and the nurses in work have been bombarded with many, many variations on the basic ingredients and combinations of steam and pressure cooking before I felt ready to share the final version with you.
At first, I tried a very plain version – a three egg Victoria Sponge mix with no extra flavourings. This is how they do it in the British baking bible – the BeRo Book. The thing is, it was really bland and very heavy.
After deciding a little lemon and vanilla extracts were needed to counter and compliment the Golden Syrup, I decided to vary the cooking techniques.
I was intrigued by reports that if you cook a steamed pudding on Steam in the Instant Pot but close the valve, it doesn’t rise so I tried both methods out.
And you know what – I didn’t find that to be true at all. Both of the tester puds I made rose evenly regardless.
But it was faster to leave the valve open and simply set 20 mins on my phone than having to wait for the timer to kick in and risk overcooking your pudding.
Once I confirmed an initial Steam followed by a slightly longer Pressure Cook (on Manual High) was the way to go, I finalised the recipe.
I left out one of the eggs but only reduced the butter, sugar and flour a tiny bit and bingo – the light, fluffy, sweet and sticky pudding of my childhood dreams came back into my life!
It’s a really old-fashioned pud but a truly wonderful one. Don’t leave out the meagre amount of breadcrumbs mixed in with the syrup as they suck up all that luscious topping and make sure you get a gooey, thick layer on top of your pudding, instead of soaking into a discernible layer as it cooks.
A large jug of custard is essential to serve your hot Steamed Syrup Pudding with too!
A traditional British steamed pudding updated with a little lemon and vanilla, and cooked in the Instant Pot. Surely this is the best thing to make with Golden Syrup, another British classic!
- 4 tbsp Golden Syrup
- 2 tbsp white breadcrumbs*
- 150 g soft butter (plus 1 tsp for greasing)
- 150 g caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 150 g self-raising flour
- 4 tbsp milk
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Grease a 1 litre (1.5 pints) pudding basin with the extra butter. Put the Golden Syrup in its base then stir in the breadcrumbs. Also, put a full kettle on to boil.
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Beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, just like you need to do for making a Victoria Sponge. Beat in the lemon extract and vanilla extract then the eggs one at a time.
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Fold in the flour then before it is completely mixed, mix in the milk. Work with light hands and do not over stir or it will toughen the mix.
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Scoop into the prepared basin. If it has a lid, pop it on, if not use a disc of baking parchment then a piece of foil to cover the pudding. Scrunch the foil up under the rim of the basin and secure with string or an elastic band if needed.
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Place the trivet that comes with the Instant Pot in the inner pot and pour in the just boiled water from the kettle to approximately the 2-litre mark inside. Carefully place the pudding onto the trivet, place the lid on and OPEN the valve. Set to Steam and set a timer to 20 minutes (the pot will not come to pressure with the valve open so you need a timer, I use my phone).
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When the timer is up, close the valve, press Cancel then press Manual. Adjust to 25 minutes (check it's on High). Allow an NPR for 10 minutes when before carefully retrieving the hot pudding with oven gloves. Remove the lid/foil and run a knife around the edge of the pudding before turning out onto a serving plate. Eat immediately with lashings of hot custard!
*= I usually whizz up a couple of slices of white bread in my food processor then store in a plastic food box in the freezer. This minimises waste as it's hard to just make 2 tbsp of breadcrumbs at a time.
This post contains affiliate links, meaning I will earn a little commission if you chose to buy items I’ve advertised, helping me to bring you all these recipes for free!
Like this post? Then why not try these related recipes:
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- Instant Pot Keema Pudding
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- Instant Pot Christmas Pudding
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- Instant Pot Alternative Christmas Pudding
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You can make your own golden syrup:
Put 100g of sugar and 3 tbsp of water in a pan, melt sugar and boil fairly vigorously until it turns a caramel colour. Then add 300ml of boiling water (carefully as it splits easily) and 500g of sugar. Heat gently, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Then add juice of 1/2 a lemon (this stops it continuing to darken and also stops the sugar crystalising). Simmer gently for 45 mins. Turn off heat, leave to cool for about an hour and then pour into jars…..job done
Thank you Brenda, what a brilliant recipe! I am definitely going to have to try that out myself. Thanks so much for sharing!
I made this in my IP last night – great recipe! Thank you!
Thanks so much for letting me know Karen! I’m delighted you enjoyed it x
Outdone yourself again, Mrs.
Like an angel dancing on my tongue……
Oh I’m so pleased Kath! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it xxx
Hi Jo! I just finished up making this recipe x2. They look and smell divine!
But They are both a little raw in center. I can’t figure out what I did wrong. I followed every step. The only thing different where my pudding basins. I only have 1 liter size. Could that have been the issue?
I will be eating them tmrw. If I reheat them in the insta pot will that help cook the center? And how should I do that? Thank you ☺️
Hi Erica. I’m so glad the puddings smell and look so tempting to you! If your pudding basin is quite wide, leaving less than an inch around it for steam to circulate, that could explain why it’s not quite done in the middle. What I’d do is put them on the trivet, pour in boiling water up to an inch below the rim and give them 20 minutes on Steam with the valve closed if reheating from cold. You could also put them in the microwave and reheat for 2 mins on full power, check the centre and repeat until piping hot throughout. It might need 4-6 mins in total in the microwave. I’d put it on a plate and cover loosely with cling film. Hope that helps! Xx
Thank you Jo 😊 I will reheat in the insta pot. Thank you for the tips. I will definitely be making this recipe again. Have a Happy Christmas 🎄
I’ve NEVER tasted anything so light & fluffy. So quick & easy too. I was amazed.
I’m so delighted Lizzie! Thank you for sharing your lovely feedback xx
sorry for being dumb here….when you say pudding basins….do you mean a plastic pudding basins…or is there a pacific type for a pressure cooker….I have plastic ones and i also have glass stew bowls…mixing bowls or whatever you like to call them lol
Thank you, thank you. I felt sure I could use my instant pot for puddings but was too scared to try. You have inspired me to give it a go! Onward
I’m so thrilled I’ve inspired you to have a go at puddings Marne! I hope you enjoy them. The IP does fantastic desserts x
Looked a great recipe. I made it and followed the cooking instructions to the letter. The middle was totally raw. I finished it off for 3 minutes in the microwave and it was nice enough but I’m sure it would have been better fully steamed in the Instant Pot.
I made this last night and it was fully cooked in the time suggested, but it didn’t rise much at all. I didn’t have self rising flour, so put 2 tsp. baking powder in the flour. I didn’t add any salt (which I believe is the other additive to make self rising flour?), since I used salted butter in the recipe. It tasted OK, but it sure wasn’t light.
Also, using the amount of milk in the recipe made the batter almost as thick as a dough. Another recipe I saw for IP sponge pud suggested adding milk “until the mixture is drippy” — mine was some distance away from drippy, that’s for sure!
Any suggestions from Jo or others who’ve tried this recipe? I’d love to have a lighter but still tasty steamed sponge!
Hello Ian and thank you for your comments and questions. In the US, salt is added to self-rising flour but not very often here in the UK. 2 tsp of baking powder would have only been just enough – if you need to make your own SR flour again, try 2.5 tsp and add 1/2 bicarbonate of soda. For my recipe, I don’t add so much milk as to make the batter runny, which would interfere with the cooking times, you’d probably lengthen it a fair bit by doing so. It wouldn’t harm you to add 5-6 tbsp milk though if you want a looser texture. Be sure to check the middle for doneness though and give it extra time if you need to. Steamed puddings don’t rise a massive amount like sponge cakes would do in the oven so regardless, you won’t find that it rises more than usually about 1/2 an inch, give or take. I hope that helps!
Thanks so much Jo, I’ll try those suggestions. (I am in Canada, rather than US.)
Delicious.
Thank so much.
You’re very welcome, glad you enjoyed it!
What’s a pudding basin? (US here…) is 2 litres of water correct? That would fill the pot, not? Your cake (AKA pudding, which of course we call custard…) would be boiled in the water? very confused.
PS pudding can be sausages (as in blood pudding), pudding can be cake, but pudding here is custard, which is what you serve with cake but probably not with sausages. hahaha.
Lol oh, I love your comment Jacqueline, it’s so funny! Yes, the English-American differences here make it a little tricky to understand what I mean if you’ve not come across one of these “puddings” before!
Pudding basins are dome-shaped containers that come in plastic, metal or ceramic, and which are traditionally used to make this sort of pudding. They are deceptively roomy inside because they are quite deep so 2 litres (8 cups) is actually not that big. The IP I have can take up to 6 litres of food/liquid so there’s a whole 4 litres of space going to spare, even with the pudding in it!
I hope you can find a basin of your own (there are links to Amazon.co.uk for the ones I use in the post – maybe have a look at one of them and then see if your local Amazon has something similar?). It really is worth the hunt! jo x
Check out EverythingKitchens for traditional pudding basins in US. They carry all sorts but my favourites are the Mason Cash brand.
Hi, just made your pudding and was brilliant. I am new to instant pot, only having it for Christmas and I may be missing something…why use steam and manual instead of using just manual. Very pleased with this pudding and look forward to cooking more of your recipes. Thank you x
For the times is that 20 minutes from the time it start to steam or 20 minutes from the time that you turn it on
I made this receipt and it was wonderful – thank you. There are only two of us so I want try to half the recipe, how should I adjust the time to ensure the pudding is not overcooked?
I have been looking for a recipe for rhubarb steamed pudding to cook in my IP. I am thinking that this recipe might just work. Thank you. Your pudding sounds great.
Hi Jo, . I am fairly new to the Instant Pot and it warmed my british heart to find this recipe, up to now I have used a mold with lid immersed in a pot of boiling water for almost three hours. Thank you so much for doing the work involved to make this family favourite pudding now so quick and easy.❤ Val
I found this looking for hints on how long to steam a pudding in my pressure cooker. Very clearly explained (except for “NPR” – Normal Pressure Reduction?) and I will give this a try. My mother used to make this pudding and I think the breadcrumbs is the secret of the thick topping. Thanks.
I made this exactly as your recipe. I found the instructions were very clear. As I only had All-purpose Flour in the house I added 2 teaspoons of Baking Powder. (We are in Canada)
The pudding turned out really well, very light and cooked all the way through. Everyone loved it. I will definitely make it again.
Thank you.