Pineapple & cherry sponge with coconut rum custard

Method

• step 1

  Line the base of a 1-litre pudding basin with a disc of baking parchment, then oil the parchment. Drain the pineapple and save the juice. Pat the rings dry with kitchen paper, then use them to line the base and sides of the basin, cutting the last couple to fill any gaps. Push a halved cherry in each pineapple hole and any other gaps – you should have some left over.

• step 2

  Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Boil the kettle. Melt the remaining coconut oil in a pan or the microwave. While it cools, put 140g flour and the sugar into a bowl and stir together. Toss the remaining cherries through 1 tsp flour.

• step 3

  Pour the coconut oil into the flour mixture along with the eggs, cherries and 2 tbsp pineapple juice. Fold everything together with a spatula and gently scrape into the pudding basin. Cover the pudding with a sheet of baking parchment, then a sheet of foil, with a folded pleat down the centre. Stand in a deep roasting tin on the middle shelf of the oven and pour the kettle-hot water into the tin, to come about half way up the sides of the basin. Bake for 2 hrs 15 mins. Insert a skewer into the centre of the pudding – it will come out clean if it’s cooked, but if not, re-cover and return to the oven for 10 mins, then check again.

• step 4

  To make the custard, pour the coconut milk into a small pan and warm it, but don’t let it boil. Whisk the egg, yolk, cornflour, sugar and rum in a jug. Whisk in the warm coconut milk, then pour the liquid through a sieve back into the pan. Return to a low-medium heat and stir constantly until thickened. Stir in the vanilla.

• step 5

  To serve, carefully turn it out onto a plate, brush the pudding with the warmed golden syrup, then serve hot with the warm coconut custard.