Banana Butterscotch Pudding

I love to catch Rachel Allen's show on PBS whenever they decide to air it and the other night I got my chance..again. This episode was a repeat, and she made this Banana Butterscotch Pudding again. I remembered wanting to make it the first time I watched this episode. So today I decided was the day.

All the snow we've been having, with more to come, must be creating a craving for comfort foods and this definitely is comfort food! The name is kind of a misnomer. It's not sure what it is! A cake or a pudding. Well, it's really both! Best when eaten warm, it's a subtle taste of bananas in the cake part with a mellow butterscotch flavor in the pudding. And what it lacks in looks it more than makes up for in taste!
I did drive myself a little crazy trying to follow the few recipes I found on line. I used two different recipes and there were different amounts. And to further complicate matters, the amounts are in mls and grams and liters so I had to translate..but so worth it!

One thing which seemed unclear was how long to cook the pudding part. I thought I should keep boiling it til it thickened but it never did so I just poured it over the cake. Turns out you probably should just bring it to a boil and then just pour it over the cake. ( My pudding part turned out a little too thick.) Oh well, my goof will save you from making this mistake!

I would serve this with a big dollop of whipped cream..so good!

Place the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk.

Mash the banana in a small bowl...

And add the milk, melted butter, egg and vanilla and mix with a fork or whisk.

Add this wet mixture into the flour mixture and whisk to combine.

Then pour the mixture into a well buttered baking dish. Spread it around evenly.

Then in a small pan, bring the brown sugar, syrup and water to a boil and boil over moderate heat just a few minutes ( not 10 minutes like I did!).

Pour the syrup mixture all over the batter, then pop into your preheated 350 oven to bake about 30 minutes, or til a tester comes out clean. ( I know it looks wierd at this point,but trust me, it works!).

Banana Butterscotch Pudding ( from Rachel Allen)

Approx. 8 servings

1 cup AP flour

3 level tsp. baking powder

Pinch salt

1/2 cup caster sugar ( I used granulated and pulsed it in the food processor)

1 large egg, beaten

1 ripe banana, mashed

generous 3/4 cup whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla

7 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Topping:

Generous 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

4 tbsp. golden syrup ( I used maple syrup, or you can use dark corn syrup).

1 cup water

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Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 7" x 11" baking dish.

1. Sift or whisk flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a medium bowl.

2. In a small bowl, add mashed banana, milk, beaten egg, melted butter and vanilla and whisk to combine.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and whisk to combine.

4. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

5. In a small pan, bring to boil the syrup, brown sugar and water and let boil over moderate heat a few minutes, then pour the mixture over the batter. (Don't stir!)

6. Bake for 30 minutes, or til a tester comes out clean.

This pudding is best served warm with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.