Banana Self-Saucing Pudding

A soft and light sponge on top of a thick banana caramel sauce pooling at the bottom of the dish make this easy banana self saucing pudding such a delicious recipe for over ripe bananas!

Bananas. One minute they are sat in the fruit bowl still looking a little underripe, and the next minute they are spotty and brown and the kids refuse to eat them. Thankfully you can make many recipes with over ripe bananas, from banana waffles, and sugar free banana muffins, to banana jam.

Jump to:

• What is a self-saucing pudding?
• Why we love this recipe
• Ingredient notes and substitutions
• How to make this self saucing pudding recipe
• FAQ
• My recipe tips
• Serving Ideas
• Storage
• More easy dessert recipes
• Banana Self Saucing Pudding

What is a self-saucing pudding?

A simple sponge batter is topped with sugar and then a liquid of water, sugar, syrup is poured over before it’s placed in the oven to bake. As the pudding bakes, the liquid sinks to the bottom, creating a moist sponge, crispy butterscotch topping and thick sticky banoffee sauce. From the sponge top, the self saucing pudding looks unassuming, but as soon as you break down through the soft banana sponge and reveal the sticky sauce beneath, it turns it into a spectacular dessert.

Why we love this recipe

• This banana self saucing pudding recipe makes a change to banana bread or banana muffins for using up leftover bananas.
• It’s a comforting winter bake – a bowl of this banana caramel self saucing pudding hot from the oven served with a scoop – or two! – of cold vanilla ice cream is comfort food at its best!
• This banoffee self saucing pudding is simple to make, and the ingredients are store cupboard ingredients too.
• I have cut down the sugar and syrup amounts in this recipe – making it cheaper and slightly (only slightly!) healthier.
• The sauce! I have increased the amounts of water to create more sauce, because if you’re making a self saucing pudding recipe, you want lots of sauce!

Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Bananas – use ripe bananas in this banana butterscotch self saucing pudding recipe. They are not only sweeter, but will break down easier to give a delicious banana flavour to the butterscotch sauce without large lumps of banana.
• Plain flour – or all purpose flour.
• Sugar – soft brown sugar makes a moist sponge and provides that toffee flavour to the sponge and sauce. If you wanted a lighter flavour sponge then you could substitute with white sugar / granulated sugar, however I would recommend you don’t use white sugar to make the sauce as it won’t be as rich and deep in toffee flavour.
• Golden syrup – adds extra caramel flavour to the self saucing pudding, in both the sponge and the sauce. You can easily buy it in the UK, NZ and Australia. If you can’t find golden syrup, you could use honey or maple syrup but they will alter the taste of the pudding slightly.
• Salt – a small pinch of salt brings out the flavours in the sponge.
• Butter – you can substitute with margarine or a vegan alternative.
• Milk – I prefer to use full cream milk (whole milk) however you can use low fat milk too.
• Boiling Water – this makes the sauce.
• Cornflour – also known as corn starch, this helps thicken the sauce.

How to make this self saucing pudding recipe

For full detailed recipe please scroll down to recipe card at the end of the post.

1. Melt the butter and leave to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 180˚C / 360˚F.
3. Grease an oven proof / baking dish with a little butter.
4. Whisk the brown sugar, flour, salt and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl.
5. Pour in the cooled melted butter, followed by the beaten eggs, milk, mashed bananas and the golden syrup.

6. Whisk to combine.
7. Pour this in to the greased baking dish.
8. Sprinkle over the brown sugar, cornflour and 1.5 tablespoons of golden syrup.

9. Then carefully pour over the boiling water. (As you can see from the picture below it looks a little messy, but don’t worry!)

10. Place the pudding into the preheated oven until a skewer inserted in to the middle of the sponge comes out clean (don’t push as far down as the sauce!), or until the top of the sponge is springy when gently pressed.
11. The pudding is best served warm – with ice cream!

FAQ

My recipe tips

• Preheat your oven and make sure it has reached temperature before placing the pudding in to get the best rise on your pudding and create a light banana butterscotch sponge.
• Use ripe bananas. Bananas that are spotty with large patches of brown are the best. They are sweeter and create the best sponge texture.
• The water must be hot when you pour it over the sponge.
• Gently pour the water over the top of the sponge to avoid breaking the surface if the sponge. The easiest way to do this is to pour it over the back of a spoon.
• Don’t overcook your self-saucing pudding, as this will reduce the amount of sauce at the bottom of your pudding (and we want as much sauce as possible!)

Serving Ideas

• This sticky banana pudding is best served hot, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or drizzle of cream or custard.

Storage

• Fridge: This self saucing banana pudding is best served on the day it is made, but you can store it in the fridge, covered for up to 2 days. The sauce will be absorbed by the banana sponge during this time, but you will still have a delicious banana caramel sponge that will soften slightly when reheated. Or, if you know you aren’t going to eat it in one setting, as soon as you have taken it out of the oven, seperate the sponge layer from the sauce layer and store both in the fridge.
• Freezer: I do not recommend freezing this pudding.

More easy dessert recipes