This 10 minute wonder of a pudding is a perennial favourite that I’ve been making since I was small. And I continue to make Microwave Syrup Sponge Pudding because what’s not to love about a steamed sponge dupe that’s soft, sweet and begging to be eaten?
This post may contain affiliate links. Please refer to my Disclosures Page for more details.
I published my recipe for Microwave Jam Sponge Pudding not too long ago and it’s been such a hit that it seemed churlish not to share some of the other variations that I love to make. And you can bet your bottom dollar that I make at least two or three of these microwave sponges a month over winter. And sometimes in summer too.
Its always a toss up whether I choose jam, golden syrup, a chocolate or lemon version. I’d say that syrup wins out at least 50% of the time – its a classic, who can blame me. I add a little lemon juice to the sponge to balance out some of the sweetness from the syrup and there are always lashings of custard powder custard.
The sponge is super simple to make. It’s an all-in-one sponge cake which is ready to go in about 2 minutes and only uses one bowl, no faffing here!
Update! I now have a recipes for Cheat’s Microwave Christmas Pudding and Microwave Chocolate Sponge Pudding too!
Treacle Sponge Pudding?
As a note, this is often called a treacle sponge pudding here in the UK. For some reason we often use “treacle” to refer to golden syrup. This is despite “black treacle”, also shortened to “treacle” being a totally different product – its similar to the American blackstrap molasses.
I may well use the terms interchangeable here but please be in no doubt, this is a golden syrup sponge!
How to Serve Syrup Sponge Pudding
Because this pudding is cooked in 4 or 5 minutes, there is little reason not to cook it and eat it hot and fresh. Served warm is absolutely fine, especially if its covered in piping hot custard.
Unlike a lighter Victoria sponge style cake, this is not a sponge to serve cold. Whist the microwave cooking method results in a perfectly light and soft sponge, once cool I find it a bit drier and more heavy. Not to fear, it reheats back to its lovely warm and soft state.
You’ll see from the images that custard is my go-to sauce for sponge pudding. Unlike with a good crumble which stands up to cream or ice cream, sponge needs custard in my book. But you serve it exactly how you prefer!
Ingredients for Microwave Syrup Sponge
Golden Syrup
Golden syrup is a product that is really quite unique. Its been a mainstay of British baking since forever but isn’t especially well known outside of the UK. It has a presence over in Australia and New Zealand but generally needs to be sourced from speciality stores in the UK.
Tate and Lyle syrup bought in green and gold tins is the original and the best. But I am a sucker for a squeezy bottle.
Supermarkets sell their own branded versions but they are not all created equal. Look for one that has a dark golden, almost ginger colour and not a lighter glow. Also look for how viscous (thick) it is. The inferior versions are more runny and are best avoided.
Now you have some golden syrup in the house, give these recipes a try too…
Margarine
I have specified margarine in this recipe rather than butter because I prefer the lighter texture that you get from a margarine or spread. The other benefit is that it is useable straight from the fridge.
By margarine I’m really talking about some kind of light spread. I’m not into “baking” margarines like Stork – they have an odd taste and I don’t really understand why they’re so popular. Just a regular, cheap spread will do nicely.
If you prefer to use butter, please do. My preference is only slight and I certainly wouldn’t not make a sponge if I only had butter and I’d be unlikely to go and buy some specially. You do need to make sure that the butter is soft before you start or the batter won’t mix properly.
Sugar
Nowadays I use white caster sugar in my sponges. But for most of my life, granulated was the only sugar on hand and that worked just fine.
You can use an unbleached/golden sugar but please don’t substitute with brown or dark brown sugar as the quantities may be out and the flavours will likely clash with the syrup.
Self-Raising Flour
If you prefer to use plain flour, you will need to add baking powder – you can use this guide from Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen to work out how much you need to use.
I’ve also made this recipe many times with white spelt flour and you’d never know the difference.
Eggs
I mostly use large eggs but if you only have medium, this recipe will work just fine.
Be Flexible
As I mentioned, this is but one variety of this pudding that I make. The topping, in this case syrup, can be changed for almost any sugary option – jam, marmalade, fruit compote or fruit curd.
You can also mix things up with the actual sponge. This recipe includes a little lemon juice in the sponge to add a little contrast to the sugary syrup. I’ve stopped short of making the lemon very prominent but you can add a tablespoon or two of zest to really amp it up. I would be cautious of adding any more juice as the texture of the sponge will be affected.
Orange zest would also add a lovely complementary flavour – but use lemon juice with orange zest. Adding ground ginger to the batter would be another lovely option.
Making a microwave chocolate sponge pudding is easy too. Replace 2 tbsp of the flour with cocoa powder and simply don’t use the syrup. Although saying that a cherry jam and chocolate sponge would be wonderful.
More Microwave Sponge Pudding Recipes
The Microwave “Steamed” Sponge Pudding Collection
Find all of my best Microwave “Steamed” Sponge Pudding recipes in one easy place. From 10 minute everyday sponges to a festive favourite in a fraction of the usual time, the best thing is you’ll never know they weren’t steamed for hours!
Featuring jam, lemon, chocolate, syrup and mincemeat sponges plus an easy cheat’s Christmas pudding and some custard options to serve with them.
Allergy Friendly Syrup Sponge Pudding
This recipe is free from nuts.
Gluten Free Syrup Sponge Pudding: To make the recipe gluten free, you will simply need to use a gluten-free flour blend.
If the blend you choose doesn’t contain a raising agent, you will need to add baking powder.
Dairy Free Syrup Sponge Pudding: The only dairy in this recipe is the margarine. Plant based margarine is incredibly easy to come by nowadays so simple sub that for the regular margarine.
Egg Free Syrup Sponge Pudding: If you can use a liquid egg replacer (whole eggs, not just egg white), that should be simple swap.
If you cannot get hold of such a product, use 1 tbsp vegetable oil in place of each egg. The texture won’t be quite the same but you’ll end up with a perfectly serviceable egg free pudding.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Vegetarian or Vegan Syrup Sponge Pudding
This microwave treacle sponge pudding recipe is vegetarian friendly as written.
To make a vegan syrup sponge pudding you will need to take on board my suggestions above to make the recipe both dairy and egg free. Not that tricky at all.
Equipment Notes for Microwave Steamed Sponge Pudding
Microwave
I think it should be quite obvious by this point that the speed of this recipe does hinge on having a Microwave.
I use the microwave on full power and the times given are for a 700/800x microwave. If you have a more or less powerful microwave, you may need to adjust the cooking times by 30 seconds one way or the other.
Although saying that, providing that you use an ovensafe pyrex dish, you could easily cook this in the oven. But it would take about 45 minutes to cook.
Electric Mixer
I do almost always use electrical assistance to make a quick sponge. It is much easier to get an all-in-one cake mixture to mix properly this way.
For a relatively small amount of mix, I find whipping out my Electric Hand Mixer preferable to using my big stand mixer bowl. But if that is what you have, use it.
You can mix this by hand using just a spatula or wooden spoon but I would usually mix the butter and sugar together first then add the eggs and vanilla and mix then the flour. Its going to take a couple more minutes but this will ensure that everything is properly mixed together and it will cook evenly.
Cooking Dish
Despite the images in the recipe showing me using a glass pyrex bowl to make this sponge, I do more often than not just use a basic thin plastic mixing bowl. I own a bunch of them in various sizes and use them for nearly everything. But they’re not very clear and are not helpful to show you what I’m doing!
You can really use any microwave safe dish you like. Plastic will not absorb as much heat as pyrex glass or ceramic so the cooking time I’ve given is less as the food itself will cook faster. The pryrex bowl that I have used in the recipe process images is 1 litre in size.
What you should avoid using is melamine or bamboo dishes. They absorb all the heat, get far to hot and leave your food uncooked.
A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.
Get Ahead
But not by much! You can make up the syrup and sponge batter a couple of hours in advance at most. It isn’t ideal to let a batter with a raising agent sit for too long (unless it is intentional like with this Ma Lai Gao Steamed Cake). Saying that, this recipe is so forgiving, a couple of hours won’t hurt.
You can then throw the bowl in the microwave just before you want to eat.
Leftover Microwave Syrup Sponge
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge and reheated again in the microwave. Heat in 30 second bursts because a portion won’t take long at all.
Quick Sponge Pudding Tips
Hot syrup is very very hot so please be extra careful when turning out the pudding. If you’re worried, don’t turn it out and simply serve from the bowl using a large serving spoon.
This recipe says that it serves 6. This is the kind of portion that you’d serve after a decent roast dinner. If you want a heartier portion, this recipe will serve 4 as written.
You can always pop a microwave on for another 30 seconds but you can’t rewind time. So if you are not sure about the power of your microwave, err on the side of caution.
It is often said that baking is a science and this puts the fear of god into people. I often eyeball this recipe and its not failed yet so don’t stress over it. Don’t go too crazy either, I will not be taking responsibility if you use 8 eggs and wonder why you have a microwave explosion of slop.
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
Pin Microwave Syrup Sponge Pudding For Later
Hit one of the share buttons to save this page to your Pinterest boards so you can come back and find it at anytime!
Keep Up to Date
Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to my newsletter and avoid missing out on any of my newest and bonus content. Don’t worry, I promise not to spam you or bombard you too often. Plus you’ll receive a copy of my FREE 7 Day International Meal Plan!
Also please don’t forget to follow me over on my social media channels over at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. I love to interact with my followers and I’d love you to share my content with your friends too.
The Recipe
Microwave Syrup Sponge Pudding Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl – Medium 1 litre
- Electric Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
Ingredients
- 150 g Golden Syrup
- 120 g Margarine - plus extra for greasing
- 120 g Caster Sugar (Superfine Sugar)
- 120 g Self Raising Flour (Self-Rising)
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Grease a microwaveable bowl and measure in 150g Golden Syrup.
- Measure 120g Margarine, 120g Caster Sugar and 120g Self-Raising Flour into a medium sized mixing bowl (or stand mixer bowl).
- Crack in 2 Eggs and add 1 tbsp Lemon Juice.
- Use an electric hand whisk or stand mixer to beat the ingredients together until fully combined.Note – Do not continue mixing past this stage as you could make the sponge tough.Note – Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is properly mixed in.
- Give the syrup a little swirl around the bowl so it sits up the sides a little.
- Transfer the sponge batter into the microwaveable bowl on top of the syrup layer. Roughly smooth out the top.
- Microwave on full power for 5 minutes if using a glass/pyrex bowl and 4 minutes if using a plastic bowl.
- Once cooked the sponge may look a tiny bit wet on the top but don’t be fooled, the sponge will be fully cooked.
- Use a plastic knife or spatula to loosen the edges of the sponge from the side of the bowl.
- Carefully turn the sponge out onto a serving plate or you can simply use a large spoon to serve straight from the bowl.Note – Be very careful as the syrup will be piping hot.
- Serve hot with lashings of custard.
Carol says
Wanted pudding, found recipe, made recipe, used stork, didn’t cover, doused in custard, happy customer!!! Ta x
Chloe says
Perfect!
Bev says
12/07/24 my son absolutely loves syrup sponge pudding and asked me to make one the other week I did and unfortunately it didn’t come out well in fact I burnt it the instructions weren’t very good and didn’t say what wattage to cook on. Then I found your recipe so I set too I read and followed the instructions as wrote but couldn’t find what size eggs you used as the not wrote with the recipe so I read all the way through and then found where you said you normally use large eggs thankfully I had gone for large. And this is not a criticism at the recipe ingredients or instructions but perhaps put large eggs in the ingredients instead of just eggs. It came out absolutely delicious my son was over the moon with it and so was I and this will now be my go to recipe instead of shop bought I’m also going to try your chocolate sponge pudding as it’s one of my favourites. Thank you for the recipe and the easy to follow instructions
Debbie says
This is a totally brilliant recipe – I love it! I find it reheats very well if you keep it on the same bowl and spray it with water, put some breadcrumbs in the bottom (I always keep some in the freezer) and put some more golden syrup over them – it creates its own extra sauce and the spray of water works a treat and keeps it moist. I microwave it for about a minute then take a look and gauge it from there. I wish the chocolate pudding recipe had a sauce – if anyone has any ideas on this I’d love to know! Many thanks for publishing this go to recipe 🙏💕
Chloe says
I’ve got pink custard on my to-do list – would that work?!
Jasmine Hopcraft says
Delicious! And easy. All members of my family came up to me after we had dinner whilst I was preparing it and said ‘what are you making’ me ‘Golden Syrup Pudding’ them ‘for tonight?! ‘ me ‘yep…ready in 5min!’ And it was and everyone loved it. All had seconds. Not me … none left 🙁
P.S interesting to read I didn’t need to put glad wrap/lid on to cook it. Will try without next time. Even better!
Tim says
Tastes OK but unfortunately the lack of proper instruction on how big the bowl should be when you put the battery in to cook it ment i used a book too big so it overflowed all over my microwave. I managed to save it and it tasted OK but it was annoying to deal with.
Chloe says
Just because you don’t bother to read, doesn’t mean that there isnt proper instruction. This is copy pasted from the post under the heading “Equipment” and subheading “Cooking Dish”:
“Despite the images in the recipe showing me using a glass pyrex bowl to make this sponge, I do more often than not just use a basic thin plastic mixing bowl. I own a bunch of them in various sizes and use them for nearly everything. But they’re not very clear and are not helpful to show you what I’m doing!
You can really use any microwave safe dish you like. Plastic will not absorb as much heat as pyrex glass or ceramic so the cooking time I’ve given is less as the food itself will cook faster. The pryrex bowl that I have used in the recipe process images is 1 litre in size.”
The equipment list in the recipe card also specifies a litre bowl.
Short of coming to your house and selecting a bowl for you, there isn’t really much more I can realistically do.
But honestly if you can’t be bothered to read and then want to blame me for your own idiocy and laziness then you can feel free to find your free recipes elsewhere.
Paul phillips says
Hi
First off let me say great recipe and end product. I think stork is so popular (UK) is that people like me.,70 were taught by great grandparents, grand parents and so on. Butter was expensive and spread hadn’t even been thought of.
One minor niggle you don’t seem to mention covering the bowl before cooking. I know most people will already be aware of this. 40 years of being a chef has taught me “there’s always one” 😒Any as I say great recipe.
Chloe says
Hi Paul, The reason that I don’t mention covering the bowl before cooking is that you don’t need to. No error, no niggle, just a well tested recipe with no unnecessary faffing or extra dishes to wash. Luckily times have moved on and there is now no reason to use stork. Just because something was true 50 years ago, luckily doesn’t mean we still have to suffer.
Sharon Perrett says
Made and just eaten a portion, sadly couldn’t make custard to go with it but beautifully soft and syrupy. Such a quick and easy recipe. Will be making a jam sponge next time. Thanks for a great recipe.
Natasha says
This is dangerously good!!! 😳
Chloe says
I hear you….its almost a little too easy isn’t it!!!
Louise Jones says
This is so delicious and so easy to make!! Thank you!!
Rebecca - Glutarama says
I have memories of microwave (miccrowavaay) syrup sponge. Notice I didn’t say good memories. It was the one pudding dad made … once. We laughed (can’t remember why) and he threw a strop and never baked again! hahahaha. I need to start making this myself and every time I see your recipe pop up on my social media its the universe telling me to set things straight!
Cat says
I’m going to be making this for my Mum asap! She loves golden syrup and this is so quick and easy!
Kate - Gluten Free Alchemist says
It’s years since I had a proper syrup sponge. This looks so fluffy and if it can be made in the microwave, I’m all in. I can feel some custard coming on!!!!
Marie says
Great
Jo Keohane says
My gran used to make something similar!!! Wonderful, can’t beat the flavor of golden syrup. Will be making this with my kids on a cold winters afternoon for sure. Thanks for posint.
Sisley White - Sew White says
Drowning it in custard was so good! I need to remember I can make sweet things in the microwave. It’s a dangerous knowledge to have as I will be making this a lot!
Helen says
Ooooh, now you’re really talking my language. Syrup sponge and custard. Get in!
Janice says
So many memories wrapped up in a proper pudding! Love this quick and easy recipe, a new favourite.