Christmas Gingerbread Self-Saucing Pudding

There’s nothing quite like the taste of Gingerbread to get you in the Christmas spirit. This gingerbread self-saucing pudding is soft, fluffy and full of familiar Christmas spices, with a rich ginger caramel sauce that magically forms underneath as it bakes.

Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and let the sauce do the rest. It’s the kind of dessert that feels extra special without being complicated to make.

Ingredients

For the Gingerbread Pudding

• 1 cup plain flour (125g)
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp mixed spice
• ¼ tsp salt
• 75g butter, melted
• ½ cup brown sugar (110g)
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• ½ cup milk (125ml)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Ginger Caramel Sauce

• ¾ cup brown sugar (165g)
• 1½ cups boiling water (375ml)
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 40g butter, melted
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Prepare the pudding

Preheat your oven to 180°C conventional (160°C fan bake). Grease a medium-sized baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice and salt.

Add the brown sugar and stir to combine.

Pour in the melted butter, golden syrup, milk and vanilla. Stir until everything is just combined and you have a thick pudding batter. Don't overmix.

Spread the mixture evenly into your prepared baking dish.

2. Make the ginger caramel sauce

Add the brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon and salt to a jug.

Pour in the boiling water, then add the golden syrup, melted butter and vanilla. Stir until the sugar has mostly dissolved.

Don't worry if the mixture looks very thin — this is exactly what you want. The sauce will form underneath the pudding as it bakes.

3. Pour over the sauce

Carefully pour the hot sauce mixture over the pudding batter.

Do not stir.

It might look a little strange at this stage, but resist the temptation to mix it together! The sauce will sink to the bottom while the pudding rises to the top.

4. Bake

Place in the oven and bake for 35–40 minutes, or until the pudding is risen, golden and cooked through in the centre.

Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving.

To Serve

Spoon the warm pudding into bowls, making sure you get plenty of that delicious ginger caramel sauce from underneath.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or custard for the ultimate Christmas dessert.

For an extra festive touch, sprinkle over a little gingerbread biscuit crumb before serving. 🎄

A Little Christmas Tip

This pudding is best served warm and fresh from the oven, but you can prepare the pudding batter ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge until you're ready to bake.

Just remember to make the sauce fresh and pour it over immediately before baking.