Steamed Treacle Pudding

Steamed sponge puddings were a staple of servants’ halls. Cheap and easy to prepare, they could be put on to steam at the back of the range and largely forgotten about. Ranges such as that at Downton were essentially huge blocks of cast iron, and although there were designated hobs (burners), including one directly over the central fire that had removable iron rings to increase or decrease the heat on the pan, the whole range operated as a giant piece of cooking apparatus. A gently bubbling