Pinkie’s buttermilk pudding

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Sift together the dry ingredients. Cream the butter and sugar well and add the egg yolks, one at a time.

Combine the milk and buttermilk and add to the butter-and-sugar mixture, alternating with the flour. The mixture will be quite watery, but don’t panic, just keep alternating, then beat with an electric
beater after each addition.

Beat the egg whites until light and glossy; if they’re too stiff they will not fold in properly. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the milk-and-egg mixture, gently turning over and over until the egg whites gently incorporate. Don’t panic if little blobs of white remain unincorporated, just don’t be heavy-handed. Use your arms like bird wings, not Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Pour into a 24 cm greased ovenproof dish, then place it into a larger dish and half-fill with water.

Bake for 35 minutes, then turn on the oven and leave the pudding inside until firm and set and brown at the edges, about 15–20 minutes. Keep watching and touch it with your finger in the centre to make sure it is set. Don’t fret if there are small cracks, fine cracks are just wrinkles on the buttermilk pudding of life.

Editor's note: ”Despite her elaborate dinner party menus, this is my mother’s most requested recipe – the simplest, most comforting nursery pudding of them all.” – Kate Wilson

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