National Pudding Season has begun!!! There are so many versions of puddings it just so unbelievable. Pudding has dated back all the way to England and has made changes to improve to the taste buds.
History of Pudding
\The first puddings made by ancient cooks produced foods similar to sausages.
\British claim pudding as part of their culinary heritage
\Medieval puddings (black and white) were sill mostly meat-based
\17th century English puddings were either savory (meat-based) or sweet (flour, nuts and sugar) and were typically boiled in special pudding bags
\By half of the 18th century traditional English puddings no longer included meat.
\The 19th century puddings were still boiled but the finished product was more than likely cake
\Puddings are still traditionally served at Christmas time (Ex. Plum pudding)
\In America, late 19th century cookbooks and company brochures (Jell-O, Royal) were made for "quick" custard and pudding mix with healthy ingredients
\By 1930 these products were readily available to the American public
Recipes for Puddings
Spotted Dick Pudding
Ingredients
\2 eggs
\8 oz [225g] self-raising flour
\Pinch salt
\3 oz [85g] castor (superfine) sugar
\8 oz [225g] shredded suet
\8 oz [225g] currents, or raisins, or sultanas, or a combination
\Zest of 1 lemon
\1 cup [250ml] milk (slightly more may be needed)
Directions
Beat the eggs in a small bowl
Sieve the flour, and salt into a large bowl
Add the sugar and stir to combine
Add the suet and combine until the mixture resembles small pellets, about the size of coarse ground meal
Add in the currents/raisins/sultanas and lemon zest, stir to mix
Add in the beaten eggs, mix well
Then slowly add in the milk and keep mixing until the ingredients are all incorporated
Knead until a slightly sticky dough is formed, if too wet add more self raising flour
Roll out the dough into a thick cylinder, of a length which will fit into your steamer or boiling utensil. The dough should still be slightly sticky
Steaming Spotted Dick in a Steamer
Wrap the dough in 2 layers of parchment paper and seal tightly, by twisting the ends of the paper
Place in a steamer and steam for 1¾-2 hours.
Ingredients
\2 eggs
\1 orange
\9 oz (255g) Plums, weight after stones removed. (If plums are out of season you can substitute the same weight of drained canned prunes. Alternatively, dried prunes which have been soaked in water overnight then drained.)
\8 oz (230g) raisins or currents or sultanas (I prefer a mixture of all 3)
\4 oz (115g) breadcrumbs (not store bought, made from slightly stale bread)
\4 oz (115g) soft brown sugar (dark brown may also be used)
\1 medium apple
\Butter for greasing
\4 oz (115g) Self Raising flour
\4 oz (115g) shredded suet
\¼ tsp ground/grated nutmeg
\½ tsp ground cinnamon
\4 tbsp dark rum
\1 cup milk
Directions
Lightly beat the eggs, set aside
Grate the orange skin to obtain the zest, making sure you do not grate the pith, set aside, discard the pulp and pith
Chop up the plums (or prunes if that's what you're using) set aside
Peel and core the apple and chop it up, set aside
Grease the inside of a 2 pint (1 liter) pudding bowl, using the butter, set aside
Sift the flour and ground cinnamon into a large bowl
Add the nutmeg and stir well
Add the sugar and stir
Add the breadcrumbs and stir to mix
Add the currants/raisins/sultanas and stir again
Add the suet and mix
Add the plums/prunes, orange zest and apple and stir to mix
Add the eggs, rum and orange juice, mix well using a wooden spoon.
Add the milk slowly, stirring all the time. Continue adding the milk until the pudding mixture is of dropping consistency. i.e. When the plum duff mixture drops from the spoon.
(NOTE:- You might find you need a little more or a little less than 1 cup of milk. This will depend on the amount of juice obtained from the orange, how juicy the plums were, the size of the eggs and whether you were naughty and added more than 4 tbsp of rum, which is something I don't recommend, unless you want your pudding to taste only of rum)
Once the Plum Duff batter is ready transfer to the pudding bowl, most of it should run, slowly, out into the bowl, then use a spatula to make sure you get all of the plum pudding into the bowl
Cover the pudding bowl with a double sheet of wax paper, which you have pleated in the middle and tie, firmly under the rim of the pudding bowl, with string
Bring the string loosely over the top of the bowl and tie to the string on the other side. This forms a handle enabling you to lift the pudding bowl.
Place the pudding bowl on an upturned dessert dish [or similar] in a pot which can contain the bowl with ease.
Fill the pot with boiling water, halfway up the side of the pudding bowl, bring the water to a simmer and place a tight fitting lid on the pot.
Of course, if you're lucky enough to have a steamer, you can use that
Steam the Plum Duff for 3 hours, checking the water approximately every 20-25 minutes.
Ensure the pot does not run dry
Lift the bowl containing the plum pudding, from the pot
Remove the wax paper and allow the pudding to cool for 10 or so minutes (Don't let the plum duff get too cold)
Although you can turn the pudding out onto a serving plate, after loosening it from the sides of the bowl, I prefer to serve it directly from the pudding bowl.
Transfer the dessert in large spoonfuls into individual dessert dishes and serve with custard or whipped cream.
You can also serve the plum pudding with a hard sauce which obviously will have to contain a little rum.
