Eve’s Pudding – Apple and Ground Cherry
A simple but classic British fruit sponge dessert that’s most often made with apples. Once baked, you end up with three layers, the fruit itself, a gooey sponge and a crisp yet light top. This version of Eve’s pudding includes ground cherries as well as apples.
I have a confession to make and it may be shocking to some: this pudding has no chocolate in it. There I’ve said it!
This is a pudding I used to make regularly about ten years ago following on from a Sophie Grigson cookery series on television. I haven’t made in such a long time, however, I thought it was due for a revival. And because it’s such a good one, I thought I really ought to share it. Sophie’s version didn’t contain ground cherries and I expect my method has morphed quite a bit from the original, but I think I’ve retained its spirit.
Eve’s Pudding with Apples and Ground Cherries
One of the reasons I like Sophie’s version of Eve’s pudding is that it uses lemons. This lifts a traditional rib sticking British pud to something a bit more refined. I’ve used a mixture of wholemeal spelt flour and polenta to make the sponge. This gives it a bit of texture, which I really like. The polenta also gives the whole pudding a beautiful autumnal glow as the yellow corn meal almost matches the golden ground cherries.
You can of course, omit the ground cherries and use all apple instead. Or substitute for the fruit of your choice.
The juice of the fruit bubbling at the base is absorbed into the bottom of the sponge which makes it delightfully moist. In effect you end up with three layers. There’s the fruit itself, the gooey sponge and a crisp yet light top. We consumed it avidly hot from the oven with Cornish clotted cream – of course!
This really is a rather fabulous if simple pudding. If you can’t get hold of clotted cream, try it with custard. I expect a lot of you would prefer that anyway.
Chocolate and Cinnamon Eve’s Pudding
For an equally delicious chocolate version, omit all but a squeeze of lemon. Instead, add a little ground cinnamon to the fruit and to the flour then melt some dark chocolate along with the butter. It makes for a completely different pudding and is really good for those dark autumn and winter nights.
Other Apple Pudding Recipes You Might Like
- Apple brown betty
- Blackberry & apple crumble
- Chocolate chip apple crumble
- Granny’s apple pie with wholemeal pastry
- Upside-down apple cake
If you’re after more hot pudding inspiration, why not take a look at these recipes in my Pudding category? And for more apple ideas, hop over to this 80 seasonal and delicious apple recipes to make this autumn.
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Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this Eve’s pudding or the chocolate version, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Eve’s Pudding – The Recipe
Eve's Pudding
Ingredients
- 500 g (1 lb) cooking apples - peeled, cored and sliced
- 250 g (½ lb) ground cherries
- 30 g (1 oz) demerara sugar
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 unwaxed lemon - zest and juice
Sponge
- 40 g (1 ½ oz) polenta
- 40 g (1 ½ oz) wholemeal spelt flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 60 g (2 oz) golden caster sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 large egg (I used a duck egg)
- 60 g (2 oz) butter - melted
- milk
Instructions
- Mix together the ground cherries, apples, demerara sugar, honey and the grated zest of ½ of the lemon.
- Place in a buttered baking dish and bake at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for about 10 minutes until the fruit starts to soften.
Sponge
- Meanwhile, stir the polenta, flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, salt and zest of ½ lemon together in a bowl.
- Make a well in the centre and add the egg, melted butter, juice of ½ lemon and enough milk to make a good dropping consistency.
- Spoon the mixture over the fruit and bake for 25 mins until the sponge is well risen and golden.
Gill the Painter
11th November 2010 at 7:14 amThis is what I would describe as my kind of pudding.
And the perfect amount of cream for me too – how did you know, Choclette?
Brownieville Girl
11th November 2010 at 7:36 amLovely winter dessert.
Anonymous
11th November 2010 at 11:36 amWhat a shocking confession! It looks lovely I have always been tempted by Eve’s Pudding. I will give your version a try one of these sundays, without the ground cherries unfortunately.
Rhyleysgranny
11th November 2010 at 12:13 pmI love Eve’s pudding. Yours looks and sounds just perfect. can you tell me what ‘ground’ cherries are?
Chele
11th November 2010 at 6:53 pmNo chocolate?!?!?! Oh my goodness, are you feeling ok Hun? Just kidding ;0)
Looks wonderful, I’ve never sampled Eve’s Pudding before but this is very tempting.
Dom at Belleau Kitchen
11th November 2010 at 7:48 pmi’ve fainted!… you not cooking with chocolate is the equivalent of a Victorian lady showing us her ankles! it’s too shocking to comment… I need to sit down with a bowl of Eve’s pudding…
Ananda Rajashekar
11th November 2010 at 8:44 pmNo chocolate oh no! ha ha but this is fantastic pudding honey and lemon wow!
Joanna
11th November 2010 at 9:21 pmAre ground cherries the fruits of the orange lantern plants? I’ve just put away a bowl of apple crumble and have loads of neighbourly apples in the garage. Could be Eve pudding next week. Looks awfully good 🙂
Alessandra
11th November 2010 at 11:26 pmWell, sometimes is good to have a little break from chocolate 🙂
Northern Snippet
11th November 2010 at 11:34 pmChef was talking about this the other day.His Mum used to make it.Thanks for the recipe!
blackbookkitchendiaries
12th November 2010 at 1:30 ammy aunt use to bake this for me whenever i visit… this reminds me of her..thank you for sharing this and for stopping by my blog.
Hanna
12th November 2010 at 10:18 amLooks really yummy! I really wanted to have a go at growing some ground cherries for this summer but I was worried it wouldnt be warm enough!
Grazing Kate
12th November 2010 at 12:52 pmwot no choc!
do you use a variety of cherries (that grow on the ground?!) or ground-up dried cherries? Sorry, being obtuse but confused by the previous comment.
Looks lovely and that wodge of cream on the top is perfect.
Kath
12th November 2010 at 7:02 pmSorry Choclette, I appear to have appeared as anonymous in my comment above – I didn’t mean to. I have no idea what I did wrong there. It was me, should you be wondering.
Choclette
12th November 2010 at 8:32 pmGill – you like your cream too then?
Thanks BVG
Kath – thanks for letting me know it’s you – I thought I had a secret admirer. I think you’d enjoy Eve’s pudding. You can always substitute flour for polenta.
RhyleysGranny – ground cherries are a type of physalis (a bit like Cape gooseberries) – easy to grow, not so easy to buy.
Chele – Eve’s pudding is a good one.
Dom – and what makes you think anyone gets a sight of my ankles. It’s a good pud, do try.
Ananda – thanks, honey and lemon in pudding form to stave of those winter colds.
Joanna – closely related, both are physalis. Ground cherries are annuals and a lot nicer to eat.
Alessandra – the break from chocolate didn’t last long.
Northern Snippet – you could always substitute the polenta for flour for a more traditional version.
BlackBook – thank you. It’s good to know others appreciate this pudding.
Hanna – these grow fine oudoors in Britain – do give them a go.
Grazing Kate – ground cherries are a type of physalis – an annual that grows well outdoors in the UK.
Kavita Favelle
23rd October 2019 at 4:10 pmI’ve still never made Eve’s pudding!!
Choclette
23rd October 2019 at 4:16 pmOh you absolutely should Kavey, especially at this time of year. It’s no better than a good crumble, but it makes a nice change.
Emma
1st November 2019 at 11:44 amIs it really bad that I have no idea what ground cherries are?! This sounds delicious though 🙂
Choclette
1st November 2019 at 1:19 pmHahaha, no not really Emma. They are not in the least bit common here in the UK, but they ought to be. They are so easy to grow. Ours just seed around all over the place.