Pigs in Clover

Ingredients
• 100g butter , at room temperature
• plain flour , to dust
• 6 tbsp golden syrup
• 4 apples , peeled, cored and cut into small cubes
• 100g golden caster sugar
• 1 lemon , zested
• 2 eggs , beaten
• 125g self-raising flour
• 4 tbsp milk
• custard , to serve

1. Butter and lightly flour a 1.2-litre pudding basin.
2. Melt 4 tbsp of the golden syrup with 25g of the butter in a frying pan. Let everything bubble together for a couple of minutes then add the apple and cook for a further 5 minutes.
3. Beat together the rest of the butter, the sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, self-raising flour and milk, then stir in the rest of the golden syrup.
4. Put the toffee apple mixture into the pudding basin and spoon the flour mixture over. Cover with a double piece of foil or greaseproof paper, with a pleat across the centre.
5. Tie on firmly with a piece of string. Cook in a steamer over simmering water for 11/2-2 hours (if you don’t have a steamer, put an upturned plate into a deep saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, half-fill with water and add the pudding basin). Top up the water if you need to. The pudding is cooked when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Turn out onto a plate, scooping up any apple that gets left behind in the basin. Serve with custard.
Per serving387 kcalories, protein 5.2g, carbohydrate 56.5g, fat 17.1 g, saturated fat 9.8g, fibre 2.1g, salt 0.65 g
Recipe from olive magazine, October 2005