Rosie says: “A hot sponge with custard is a very British thing I think. Steamed ones are particularly good but long-winded, so here we use a fairly standard cake batter baked on top of another very British thing – marmalade. The marmalade provides a sharp, sweet sauce for our sponge, but I recommend serving this with LOTS of hot custard for ultimate school-dinner nostalgia.”

Serves 6–8 generously

Ingredients

700g (1½ lb) marmalade
finely grated zest and freshly squeezed juice of 1 orange
250g (1¼ cups) golden caster (superfine) sugar
180g (¾ cup + 2 tsp) butter, at room temperature
250g (1¾ cups + 2 tbsp) self-raising flour
large pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or
vanilla extract (optional)
80ml (⅓ cup) whole milk
4 medium eggs
custard or double (heavy) cream, to serve

Make ahead:

You can make and bake the sponge up to 2 days ahead and keep it in the fridge. When you want to eat it, let the sponge come to room temperature before reheating.

Substitutions:

Go wild with your marmalade options here – the possibilities are endless! Jam (jelly) would also work beautifully.
Spice your sponge in any way you like – I used just vanilla but cinnamon or cardamom would be delicious, and even some fresh ginger grated in too.

Scaling:

Halve the recipe easily to serve 4. The recipe is easily increased too, however, it is best not to bake a large batch in one larger dish, or it will take forever to cook – split the mix across several dishes instead.

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C fan (190°C/375°F/Gas 5).

Spoon the marmalade into the bottom of a 23cm x 28cm (9 x 11in) baking dish. Add 50ml (31/2 tablespoons) of boiling water and the orange juice to it and stir well to combine. Set aside while you make the sponge.

Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy; this should take around 2 minutes in a stand mixer or using a handheld electric whisk.

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl, then set aside. Mix the vanilla, milk and orange zest together in another bowl and set aside.

Add the eggs, one at a time, to the creamed sugar and butter, mixing well with the electric whisk with each addition. If the mixture looks at all split, add 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture.

When all the eggs are incorporated, add a third of the flour mixture and mix well, followed by a third of the milk mixture. Alternate until all the milk and flour mixtures have been incorporated and you have a smooth, fluffy cake batter.

Spoon the batter into the dish over the marmalade, aiming for a relatively even distribution. The marmalade will come up the sides of the batter but don’t worry – when it cooks it sinks and the sponge rises. Pop into the preheated oven to bake for 45–50 minutes, until the middle of the sponge is springy and a skewer inserted (not as far down as the marmalade) comes out clean. If the top is getting too dark, cover it with foil.

Remove from the oven and serve immediately or keep the pud warm until needed. Or, if baking ahead, leave to cool and then reheat covered tightly in foil in the oven for 20 minutes at 160°C fan (180°C/350°F/Gas 4). Serve with hot custard or cold cream.

Good Times Cooking: 3 indulgent dessert recipes that are perfect for entertaining