Individual Warm Jam Roly-Poly with Custard

A Nostalgic Pudding, Sized for One

Jam roly-poly turns up in memory before it turns up on a plate: the school dinner trolley, the stripe of crimson jam through pale suet pastry, and a jug of custard arriving just in time. The trouble with the traditional version is its size. You steam a great log for two hours, then spend the rest of the week eating it lukewarm.

Baking it in small portions solves all of that. Each one gets its own crisp edges, its own pocket of jam and its own puddle of custard. They take twenty-odd minutes rather than two hours, and there is no collapsing log to slice at the table while everyone watches. This is a pudding you can make on a Tuesday.

The Suet Pastry, Done Properly

Suet pastry is the whole point. It is soft, slightly short, and it holds jam in a way that a buttery sweet pastry never quite manages. Shredded beef suet is traditional, but the vegetarian version behaves identically, so use whichever you have.

• 200g self-raising flour
• 100g shredded suet
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• A good pinch of fine salt
• About 100–120ml milk, plus a little extra for glazing

Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt and sugar, add the suet and stir until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Pour in the milk a little at a time, mixing with a round-bladed knife, until you have a soft but not sticky dough — you may not need all of it. Bring it together with your hands, wrap it and rest it in the fridge for 20 minutes. Cold pastry rolls neatly; warm pastry fights back.

Rolling, Jamming and Portioning

Lightly flour the worktop and roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 30cm by 20cm, keeping the edges as straight as you can. Spoon over 6 to 8 tablespoons of raspberry jam and spread it thinly, leaving a 2cm border clear all the way round. Thick blobs of jam will burst through the pastry and burn onto the tin, so restraint pays here.

Roll it up from the long side, keeping it tight but not stretched, and finish with the seam underneath. Pinch the two ends closed and press the seam gently to seal it. Cut the roll into six even pieces with a sharp, floured knife — a sawing action will squash the spiral out of shape. Wipe away any jam that escapes now rather than letting it caramelise later.

Baking in Small Portions

Butter six individual pudding moulds, ramekins or holes of a deep muffin tin generously. Sit each spiral of dough in its mould, cut side up, and brush the tops with a little milk. Bake at 200°C conventional, 180°C fan, Gas Mark 6 for 20 to 25 minutes, until risen, golden and firm to a light press. If the tops colour too quickly, cover loosely with foil.

If you would rather steam them, sit the moulds in a roasting tin, pour in boiling water to come halfway up the sides, cover tightly with foil and bake at the same temperature for 30 minutes. Steamed versions are softer and paler; baked ones have more character. Both are correct.

Let them stand for five minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto a plate.

Custard Worth Pouring

Proper custard takes eight minutes and one pan. Warm 400ml of whole milk with a split vanilla pod, or a teaspoon of vanilla extract, until it steams but does not boil. Whisk 3 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and 1 teaspoon of cornflour in a bowl, then pour the hot milk over slowly, whisking all the time. Return everything to the pan and stir over a low heat until it thickly coats the back of the spoon. Do not let it boil.

If you are using bought custard — and there is no shame in it — warm it gently and stir in a splash of double cream and a grating of nutmeg. That lifts a carton into something worth pouring.

Serving and Small Variations

Pour the custard over the puddings at the table, generously, so it pools around them and soaks into the cut surfaces. A spoonful of clotted cream on the side is not necessary and entirely advisable.

Leftovers keep for two days in the fridge, covered. Reheat them in the oven at 160°C fan for 10 minutes rather than in the microwave, or the pastry turns rubbery. Cold, they are rather good split and toasted in a little butter.

Once you have the method, the jam is yours to play with. Golden syrup with a squeeze of lemon is the classic alternative; lemon curd with a handful of blueberries is excellent; and a layer of stewed apple with a dusting of cinnamon turns the whole thing into a sort of rolled-up Eve's pudding. Whichever you choose, serve it warm and do not skimp on the custard.