The last of the leftovers- Marmalade Panettone pudding

It is the end of January and my one last remnant of Christmas was still waiting to be used,a small individual panettone.With expat friends coming for lunch what better than a good old fashioned steamed pudding for lunch on a cold day.Could I make a steamed pudding without a buttery batter( our friend is intolerant of butter )well it was worth a try.The panettone stared at me with a wide-eyed gaze that said “try me and your batter dilemma will be history”.

1/2 tablespoon Marsala / Oloroso sherry or sweet Madeira
100g panettone cut into 2cm pieces
15g toasted almonds
1/2 teaspoon dried ginger powder
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 cup lightly whipped cream
1/2 cup milk
12g light muscovado sugar
Home made Seville orange marmalade

I cut the panettone up into small 2 cm pieces and doused it with 1/2 tablespoon of Marsala wine,a rare commodity here in the Algarve,so if my experiment was not to work I would be wasting a valuable culinary asset.I left the chopped up panettone to soak up the alcohol for 30 minutes.then added 1/2 teaspoon of dried ginger powder and 15g of toasted almonds.In a separate bowl I combined one egg lightly beaten,12 g of light Muscovado sugar,1/2 cup of lightly whipped cream, 1/2 cup milk and poured this mixture over the panettone .I greased 5  x 200ml dariole moulds and the spooned a dollop of Seville orange marmalade onto the bottom of each mould.I then filled them with the panettone mix. I cut out five pieces of foil and folded a pleat through the centre of each before placing them over the puddings and securing them tightly round the moulds.I placed them in a bain-marie with water coming 1/2 way up the sides of the pudding moulds, and put then in the oven on a low heat to steam for 2 1/2  - 3 hours, checking the level of the water and topping up as needed. I let them stand for 15 minutes before turning them out onto serving plates.

So music maestro-bring on the pudding.What was the verdict?- judging by the speed with which it was consumed by our guests and the cleanness of their plates, nothing short of “master chef" spectacular.The Thespian however was not in agreement and pushed his plate aside.Myself,I have to admit it was not completely up to my expectation but certainly not a disappointment.I put it down to the time it was steaming in the oven. I have taken this into account when writing up the recipe,allowing the puddings more oven time.It could be as simple as the oven performance lacking,but then a good workman should not blame his tools.