How to Make Traditional Radio Pudding — No-Fuss Comforting Bake

 

Today I am sharing a wonderful vintage recipe with you for Radio Pudding. Radio Pudding is a vintage dessert that combines simple ingredients with old-fashioned charm for a cozy, caramel-infused treat.  

This classic pudding dates back to the early days of radio, when recipes were shared over the airwaves and handwritten into family cookbooks. Made with pantry staples like flour, sugar, milk, and raisins, it features a rich butterscotch sauce that bubbles up around a tender cake-like topping as it bakes. The result is a warm, spoonable dessert with layers of flavor and texture — perfect for chilly evenings or comforting weekend bakes.

This was something my grandmother always made for us and which my own mother made from time to time. It was also something I used to make my own children when they were growing up. It is not only quick and easy to make, but it is also delicious.

 

This is a very family friendly pudding/dessert recipe that hearkens back to the past.  An easy one-pan pudding which is a delicious nod to simpler times. A timeless treat that perfectly proves that simple ingredients can create something very special. Quick, easy and economical.

I am not sure of its origins, but I strongly suspect that it came into favor during the depression and the second world war, when ingredients like eggs were in short supply, budgets were trim and rationing was in place.  A simple recipe, using simple ingredients put together in a way that would please any family member, and especially the children.

I hope you will be tempted to make this simple classic dessert and that you enjoy it when you do. Is there a dessert like this in your family that takes you back to your childhood?

 

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO MAKE

GRANDMOTHER'S RADIO PUDDING (SMALL BATCH)

Simple baking cupboard ingredients, and not a lot of any one thing.

For the sauce:

• 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup (240ml) hot water
• 1 TBS butter

For the cake:

• 1/4 cup (50g) of granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 TBS butter, softened
• 1/4 cup (120ml) milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup (63g) plain all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (40g) raisins
• pinch salt

To serve:

• Vanilla ice cream, warm custard or pouring cream

 

To measure the brown sugar, pack it into your dry measuring cup firmly. It should hold its shape when dumped out. If I was in the U.K. I would use light Muscovado Sugar.

You can use hot water right from the tap.

I use salted butter. I doubt our grandmother's had anything else in the kitchen and neither do I.

I use Kirkland organic granulated sugar, whole milk, and all-purpose flour. You can use self-rising, but do omit the baking powder and salt if you do.

I used sultana raisins. Dried currants would also be nice.

I served it with some cookie scoop sized balls of vanilla ice cream. Delicious!

 

HOW TO MAKE

GRANDMOTHER'S RADIO PUDDING (SMALL BATCH)

This is a relatively simple dessert to make No special skills or equipment required. To be honest, you could just bung all of the pudding ingredients into a bowl and give them a good beating to make sure everything was well incorporated.

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Have ready a baking dish that is roughly 9 by 4 1/2 inches in size. (I use my vintage Pyrex loaf dish.)
2. Put the ingredients for the sauce into a medium sized saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring, over medium heat. Allow to boil for 2 minutes, no longer than that. Pour this into the baking dish. (DO NOT boil longer than two minutes or you risk burning the sauce. Also use a saucepan that will hold the ingredients double in volume to preclude spills.)
3. Cream the butter and sugar together for the pudding batter together in a bowl. Whisk in the baking powder, salt and flour. Whisk in the milk until smooth. Stir in the raisins.
4. Spoon the batter in dollops over the sauce in the baking dish. (I dolloped using two soup spoons.)
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until risen, puffed and golden brown. You should be able to see the sauce bubbling underneath. It will sink a bit once you take it out of the oven, but that's okay!
6. Serve warm, spooned into dessert bowls along with your favorite accompaniment.

 

HINTS AND TIPS FOR SUCCESS 

• Make sure your saucepan for the sauce is large enough to contain the sauce while it is boiling. It easily doubles in size, and you don't want it overflowing and catching on the stove burner.
• Don't boil your sauce ingredients for more than 2 minutes tops. It can burn and taste bitter.
• Spoon your batter as evenly as you can over top of the hot syrup base. I use two soup spoons and just dobble it over the top, evenly spaced.
• Test with a toothpick to be sure it is thoroughly baked through before removing. Insert a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, the pudding is done. It should in nowise be wet.  You can also touch the top lightly and it should spring back. If it is not done bake it for a few minutes longer.
• I find that having everything at room temperature before beginning gives the best results.

  

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CAN THIS BE MADE VEGAN?

Absolutely. Since there are no eggs in the batter that isn't a problem.  Simply substitute a vegan butter substitute for the butter and oat milk for the regular milk.

CAN I USE SELF-RISING FLOUR?

Yes, you can. Simply remove the baking powder and the salt from the recipe and use the same amount of self-rising flour in place of the plain flour.

CAN THIS BE DOUBLED TO FEED MORE PEOPLE?

Yes. It can. Simply double all of the ingredients and bake in a 9-inch square baking dish. The bake time should remain the same, but do test it and if it requires a bit longer to bake, do so.

HOW CAN I STORE THE LEFTOVERS?

Store any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator.  To serve, gently reheat in a 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4 oven so that the texture remains the same. Note it may absorb some of the sauce during storage. You can store it this way for up to 3 days.

CAN THIS BE FROZEN?

Yes, this freezes surprisingly well. I would divide it into single serving sized containers. Cover tightly, label and date. Use within 3 months. Leave to thaw overnight and then gently reheat as above.

 

A FEW OTHER 

OLD-FASHIONED PUDDING RECIPES

TO ENJOY

Not pudding as in the North American sense really, but very much in the British sense. Warm desserts with cake and sauce. Deliciously impossible to resist.  Beautifully old-fashioned.

CARAMEL APPLE SELF SAUCING PUDDING - A delicious apple cake batter bakes on top of a brown sugar sauce to create a light and fluffy hot pudding. Cake studded generously with apples, with a thick caramel like sauce on the bottom. Delicious served warm with cream, whipped cream, or ice cream.

MIXED BERRY PUDDING - This is very much a British style of pudding, composed of fresh or frozen summer fruits (berries), with a rich blanket of a yogurt cake, moist and delicious, on top and a sprinkle of toasted flaked almonds. The fruit stews and bubbles away in the oven while the cake puffs and the almonds toast. Perfect spooned, warm, into bowls along with a dollop of softly whipped cream, yogurt or creme fraiche.

  

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Yield: 3 servings

Author: Marie Rayner

Radio Pudding (small batch)

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 40 Min

An old, old recipe which has been passed down through the generations. A fluffy and moist cake base studded with plenty of raisins bakes in a lush butterscotch sauce. Simple and delicious. This is a small batch recipe. Simply double to serve more.

Ingredients

For the sauce:

• 1/4 cup (50g) soft light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup (240ml) hot water
• 1 TBS butter

For the cake:

• 1/4 cup (50g) of granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 TBS butter, softened
• 1/4 cup (120ml) milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup (63g) plain all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (40g) raisins
• pinch salt

To serve:

• Vanilla ice cream, warm custard or pouring cream

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Have ready a baking dish that is roughly 9 by 4 1/2 inches in size. (I use my vintage Pyrex loaf dish.)
2. Put the ingredients for the sauce into a medium sized saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring, over medium heat. Allow to boil for 2 minutes, no longer than that. Pour this into the baking dish.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together for the pudding batter together in a bowl. Whisk in the baking powder, salt and flour. Whisk in the milk until smooth. Stir in the raisins.
4. Spoon the batter in dollops over the sauce in the baking dish.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until risen, puffed and golden brown. You should be able to see the sauce bubbling underneath. It will sink a bit once you take it out of the oven, but that's okay!
6. Serve warm, spooned into dessert bowls along with your favorite accompaniment.

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