Nearly spring? Would you Adam and Eve it!

WOULD you Adam and Eve it, it’s nearly spring already, which means it’s still soup and pudding days.

It’s also time to embrace another pudding club recipe of mine which is good for the soul.

Every time I see Bramley apples I reach out and buy another pack because they are so big and green, being full of tart apple flavours which can be quickly transformed into a delicious pudding. So rather than making another apple crumble, Eve’s pudding always comes to mind.

This is one tasty mess that Eve got Adam into with the name, of course, coming from the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, which we all learned about at Sunday school – when Eve tempted Adam with an apple.

According to the story, God created Adam and Eve in a garden where they could eat freely from the trees. Eve ate fruit from a forbidden tree and gave it to Adam, who also ate it. After God made the earth, sun and the moon, God made man, he called him Adam and gave him a soul and life so that he could take good care of the earth and he gave Adam a beautiful garden called Eden to live in which became his home.

He soon became sad and lonely, and God felt sorry for him and created a companion for him called Eve who was great company to Adam and helped him take care of the garden, animals and birds.

But God told them not to eat fruits from “the trees of knowledge’’ in the garden. A snake that lived in the garden one day told them, if they ate the fruits from the trees of knowledge they would become wise and intelligent, so they did, and God punished them both by sending them into the earth and leaving the garden to work hard.

For Adam, he decided that life would grow crops and create food, whereas for Eve, he decided that she would suffer the pain of giving birth, poor Eve.

Adults today warn children about drink, drugs and fast cars and overnight it seems teenagers are seduced from family values – modern-day-life social media comes to mind, but were Adam and Eve children in paradise? Interesting question, as it’s only in the breaking of the bond with parents that the child can become an adult, so don’t quote me, this is only a pre-school story version.

Go on, commit a sin and bake-up an Eve pudding for tea tonight and bond the family together.

RECIPE

EVE PUDDING

Serves 4 portions

Ingredients:

125g / 4oz butter, softened

125g / 4oz caster sugar

125g / 4 oz self-raising flour, sieved

2 eggs, lightly beaten

A little milk might be needed if the batter is on the firm side

For the filling

500g / 1lb cooking or dessert apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly

50g / 2oz caster sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter

and caster sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the eggs slowly so not to curdle and gently fold in the flour with a metal spoon thoroughly.

4. Thinly slice the apples and place them into an 8-inch round oven-proof dish or similar container.

5. Sugar each layer as you build them up, then spoon the sponge mixture over the apples, spreading out evenly.

6. Bake for around 45 minutes until the the sponge is set and has a lovely golden brown top, then sprinkle over a little caster sugar.