Raisin Pudding Cake

Self-saucing pudding cakes are fun

 I've made a few pudding cakes in my life, including this one from Grandma's box. The way the cake rises to the top and the sauce forms underneath is almost like magic. I was looking forward to testing this one but doubted that my grown kids would enjoy it. They're not raisin fans. So I tested this recipe on a weekday, which meant more cake for me, my husband, and my mother. Whether that was a good thing or not depended on how good the recipe was. Here is what we found out. 

How to make Raisin Pudding Cake

As usual, instructions for making the recipe were sparse, so I did what seemed logical to me. I started by adding the dry ingredients to a bowl. 

I whisked them together, then added the raisins and nuts. 

What to do with the butter was the next mystery. Did I cream it, melt it, cut it in? I settled for melting it, but when I added it to the milk and vanilla, it solidified again. 

I hoped that the mixing process would break it back down, so I added the wet ingredients to the dry and stirred that all together with my Danish Whisk, which works really well on thick dough.  (Not an affiliate link.)

And that was it. The dough was done, nothing simpler. I spread it into my 9-inch baking dish. 

Now to create the magic. I added the water, remaining butter, and brown sugar to a saucepan and brought that to a boil. 

Next, I poured the hot liquid over the batter.

Moving the baking dish to the oven was a little scary. Next time, I'll place the dish on the oven rack, pour the liquid on top, gently push the rack back in, and shut the door.  I set the timer to 35 minutes, and this is how it looked when it came out, golden brown on top, bubbly on the bottom.  

The Verdict

 We let the cake cool for ten minutes or so, then I spooned some of the cake and sauce into a dish. A dollop of ice cream went on next.   

Okay, this might qualify as more than a dollop, but when that warm spice cake, caramel-like sauce, and melty ice cream combined, it was amazing.    

But what about the raisins? you ask. Yes, they were there, but they weren't very prominent, and when I did happen upon one, I found it to be plump and juicy. 

The only thing I might fiddle with in the future would be the nutmeg. The cake tasted quite strongly of it, and I think half as much would be the right amount for me. I've halved the nutmeg on the recipe card below, but if you'd like more,  go ahead and double the listed amount. 

If, however, you're not a raisin lover, then I'm sorry. I suppose you could leave the raisins out of this recipe, but then it wouldn't be Raisin Pudding Cake, would it? Try it. You might like it, because this really is a good dessert.