Microwaveable Gluten Free Jam Sponge Pudding Recipe (dairy free) (2024)

My microwaveable gluten free jam sponge pudding recipe is perfect when you need a warming dessert in a hurry – 1 and a half minutes to be exact! Oh and my recipe is dairy free too.

I’m a firm believer that nobody should ever have to miss out on dessert because of gluten/dairy. I mean, maybe 10 years ago, but not these days – surely?! Well, just in case, I made my microwaveable gluten free jam sponge pudding recipe to be doubly sure…

So what’s so great about my gluten free jam sponge pudding recipe? Stand back everyone, I think it’s time to pull out the bullet points:

It’s easy peasy to make in the microwave.
You only need 6 ingredients.

You can make it in a bowl if you don’t have a ceramic mini pudding basin…
It cooks in 1 and a half minutes!

*blows non-existent smoke from non-existent gun*

But I guess the best thing about it is that it tastes bloody awesome! It’s just like a light and fluffy, steamed sponge pudding with sweet, sticky jam on top. What’s not to love?

Plus, you can easily make it dairy free too simply by using dairy free margarine instead of butter if you fancy.

I would highly, highly recommend serving this up straight from the microwave with cold custard straight from the fridge – I actually used Alpro dairy free soya custard in the photos.

Does anyone else love a hot pudding with cold custard, or is that just me?! I guess you can warm your custard up in the microwave too if the thought of that offends you!

Also, I’m a little greedy with the jam, so I microwaved an extra couple of tablespoons in a separate bowl and dolloped it on top. But shh… don’t tell anyone!

The sponge is lovely and light, really nice and soft since it’s basically steamed in the microwave. Then, that jam is lovely and sticky after a quick blast.

With custard, it’s a match made in heaven! Here’s a few Q&As on my gluten free jam sponge pudding recipe to make sure you get it right first time…

Help! It keeps overflowing when I cook my sponge pudding in the microwave. What do I do?

Oh dear, clean your microwave after, of course! But seriously, that sounds like you might have just filled your microwaveable bowl too high.

I aim for half way up the bowl when I fill it with cake batter. That way, it has lots of room to rise. Even if it overflows over the edges a little, it should still be fine to eat.

There’s holes in my pudding where the jam was! What did I do wrong?

Putting in too much jam can make it bubble quite violently in the microwave and the bubbling will leave holes behind.

My gluten free jam sponge pudding didn’t rise much and it’s a little stodgy. What happened?

If you don’t put the plate on top, the cake will rise up and promptly sink back down. It needs to the plate on top to steam and make the pudding rise to be nice and light.

So definitely make sure you put the plate on top before cooking!

My gluten free jam sponge pudding wasn’t cooking in the time you mentioned. Why?

The size of the bowl you use can massively influence the cook time. Using the amounts in the recipe card below, I was able to make two small sponge puddings.

These both took 1 and a half minutes, or slightly less to cook. If you make one enormous sponge pudding, you’ll probably need to cook it for longer.

In that case, cook it for around 2 and a half minutes. A really wide, flatter bowl will also cook quicker than a deeper bowl so bear that in mind too.

Ok, so here’s my microwaveable gluten free jam sponge pudding recipe…

Ingredients for my gluten free jam sponge pudding recipe

50 g gluten free self-raising flour
50 g caster sugar
50 g butter or dairy free margarine
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp strawberry or raspberry jam

See the recipe card below for the method and don’t forget to leave me a star rating if you enjoyed it. It really helps!

Gluten Free Jam Sponge Pudding Recipe (dairy free)

My microwaveable gluten free jam sponge pudding recipe only takes 1 and a half mins in the microwave! Plus, it's dairy free too.

Ingredients

50 g gluten free self-raising flour
50 g caster sugar
50 g butter or dairy free margarine
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp strawberry or raspberry jam

Instructions

Using an electric whisk, mix together your dairy free margarine and sugar.
Add the egg to your mixing bowl. Put in a tsp of vanilla extract and whisk again until well combined.
Lastly, add the gluten free self-raising flour and whisk for one last time until you're left with a nice, smooth mixture.
Grab a microwaveable bowl - mine is a tiny ceramic pudding basin about 5cm wide. Grease it by spreading a thin layer of dairy free margarine all around the inside of it. I do this with some kitchen roll. Then spread a nice, even layer of jam around the inside of the bowl - don't use too much!
Fill your bowl with your cake mixture up to half-way full. It'll rise a lot, so you'll need to leave the extra space or it'll overflow when cooking.
Place your bowl onto a plate to catch any that might overflow. Then cover the bowl with another plate and microwave on full-power (900W) for 1 and a half minutes if you're using a small pudding basin (about 5cm in diameter). Or between 2 to 2 and a half minutes in an average-sized cereal bowl.
Enjoy!

Thanks for reading how to make my microwaveable gluten free jam sponge pudding recipe!If you make it, I’d love to see how it turned out so don’t forget to take a snap of your creation and tag me on Instagram!

Any questions about the recipe? Please do let me know by following me onInstagram and leaving me a comment!

Thanks for reading,

Becky xxx

Oh and don’t forget to pin this for later!

Gluten-Free Recipe

FAQs

Steaming: Steaming is another method you can use to cook the pudding. Pour the pudding mixture into a heatproof dish and cover it tightly with foil or a lid. Place the dish in a steamer or a large pot with a steamer basket. Steam the pudding over simmering water until it is cooked through.

Steamed in the traditional way to develop the flavour and packed with homemade marmalade, the taste is intensified with a good hint of orange liqueur. This pudding can be reheated equally well by steaming or in the microwave.

The pudding is at its very best when freshly cooked as the sponge is light and moist. For this reason we prefer not to make the sponge in advance, as it can become denser as it cools. The sauce can be made up to a week ahead and stored in the fridge, or up to 3 months ahead and frozen.

You can use almond milk to make instant pudding, and it goes great. Almond milk is a great non-dairy substitute for milk for making instant pudding. And, if you want to prepare vegan instant pudding, almond milk is a great option to go for.

If you use water instead of milk in instant pudding, the pudding will still set and thicken, but it will have a different taste and texture. Milk adds creaminess and richness to the pudding, while water lacks these characteristics. The result will be a less creamy and less flavorful pudding.

Serve warm or cold (it can be reheated for 10 mins in the oven if required) We love it warm with icecream, but is also delicious with cream or custard. Try using different fruits, apple and cinnamon works well, with walnuts on top, or in the summer try plums, raspberries or apple and blackberry.

Will keep in an airtight container, or tightly wrapped in the freezer for up to three months.

Steaming is definitely the best. Microwaved puddings are frequently ruined. They tend to overheat and get tough & sticky. Steaming lightens the pudding and after taking so much care to make your own pudding it's such a shame to not steam it.

If the pudding has a very big dip in the centre then it could be that it was not cooked quite thoroughly enough and this could happen if the water was not kept at a brisk simmer or if the pan was allowed to boil dry at any point.

Check the pudding is cooked by inserting a skewer through the foil and parchment lid into the centre of the pudding. If the skewer still has some wet mixture on it, return the pudding to the steamer for a further 15-20 mins, then check again.

Below I will outline the technique to secure the top of a traditional pudding basin and how to steam puddings in order to make desserts such as sticky toffee pudding. If you don't have a lipped pudding basin to hand, you can use any lipped heatproof bowl.

Equipment Notes for Microwave Sponge Pudding

Although saying that, providing that you use an oven safe pyrex dish, you could easily cook this in the oven. But it would take about 45 minutes to cook.

To make pudding: Combine 2 cups of milk with ½ cup of the instant pudding mix in a medium saucepan over high heat, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, and then immediately reduce the heat to a simmer and continue whisking until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (about 3 to 5 minutes).