I was honestly pretty disappointed with this pudding. The recipe did not work as written at all! The original recipe only calls for 1/3 c. of milk. I had to add an extra 1/4 c. before the dough would even think about coming together. I also thought it was strange that they have you very carefully hold back the lemon juice for the syrup until after it's off the heat, but then have you pour the syrup over the pudding before putting it into the oven. The syrup was horribly thin and watery and ran everywhere. Then, once in the oven, it burnt to a coal-black and welded the pudding to the baking sheet. And, to top it all off, the lemon juice turned from tart to bitter during the baking process to add another unpleasant layer of flavour over the acrid taste of burnt sugar.

The pudding itself was fine. Not amazing, but not bad either as long as you avoided the burnt syrup all around it. I think it could possibly be salvaged to be a decent dessert if you made the syrup thicker and held it back 'til after the pudding is fully baked or maybe only added it for the last five minutes of baking. I do think the dough definitely needs the extra milk though. There's no way only 1/3 c. would do it!

So, here's my best guess at how to make a marginally better roly-poly pudding:

Roly-Poly Pudding

Adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

Syrup

• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. golden syrup
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Pudding

• 1 1/2 c. soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1/2 c. milk (or a little more)
• 1/2 c. warmed apricot, blackberry, or currant jam

Directions

1. Combine water, sugar, golden syrup, and butter and bring to a boil, stirring.
2. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease a rimmed baking sheet.
4. Shift together flour and baking powder.
5. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
6. Add sugar and lemon zest.
7. Stir in just enough milk to make a soft dough.
8. On a floured surface, roll dough out into a 25cm (10") square.
9. Spread with warmed jam (leaving a border of a cm or two).
10. Moisten edges of dough with milk and fold in the sides, then roll it up jelly roll style.
11. Very carefully (with two spatulas/lifters) transfer the roll to the prepared baking sheet, seam side down.
12. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 20-25 minutes.
13. Pour the syrup over the pudding and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes.
14. Serve with cream and/or custard.