Never Too Early to Make Your Plum Pudding

I know, Christmas planning already?  I am not that organized but The Daring Bakers' Challenge for April is to make a steamed pudding.  This pudding is really best when made a year in advance and allowed to mellow. It was customary to make it early in Advent — the religious season before Christmas — and use it the following year. Everyone in the family was supposed to stir the pudding once for good luck. If you can't make it the year before, at least give it a few weeks to age.

I used my vintage pudding mold from Shelley, England.  This is the same mold I used for the Champagne and Raspberry Congealed Salad!

I made carrot pudding, like my Mom used to, and it will sit in my cold room until Christmas.  This is a recipe that I found while reading old community cookbooks about a month ago.  Of course it had no booze in it.

The carrot pudding doesn't fulfill the complete requirements for this challenge however, so I also made an English Plum Pudding.  It has all the booze and suet that will make it lovely and also fulfill the requirements for this challenge.  (Which is to use suet)

The April 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen.  She challenged everyone to make a very traditional British pudding using, if possible, a traditional British ingredient: suet.

Superb English Plum Pudding            from www.epicurious.com

Fruit Mixture (To be made 4 days ahead)

• 1 pound seedless raisins
• 1 pound sultana raisins
• 1/2 pound currants
• 1 cup thinly sliced citron
• 1 cup chopped candied peel
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon mace
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound finely chopped suet - powdery fine
• 1 1/4 cups cognac

Pudding

• 1 1/4 pounds (approximately) fresh bread crumbs
• 1 cup scalded milk
• 1 cup sherry or port
• 12 eggs, well beaten
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Cognac

Blend the fruits, citron, peel, spices and suet and place in a bowl or jar. Add 1/4 cup cognac, cover tightly and refrigerate for 4 days, adding 1/4 cup cognac each day.

Soak the bread crumbs in milk and sherry or port. Combine the well-beaten eggs and sugar. Blend with the fruit mixture. Add salt and mix thoroughly. Put the pudding in buttered bowls or tins, filling them about 2/3 full. Cover with foil and tie it firmly. Steam for 6-7 hours. Uncover and place in a 250°F. oven for 30 minutes. Add a dash of cognac to each pudding, cover with foil and keep in a cool place.

To use, steam again for 2-3 hours and unmold. Sprinkle with sugar; add heated cognac. Ignite and bring to the table. Serve with hard sauce or cognac sauce.

This next recipe is from an old community cookbook.  My mother made this a lot and she would steam it in glass quart sealers (what we used to call canning jars).  That was before we converted to metric!  The recipe does not give a lot of direction regarding steaming.  I guess back then everyone knew how to cook.  I was afraid of the pudding rising (note the baking soda) so I split this between two quart sealers.  Yes, I found some quart (not litre) sealers!  We usually just had it with a brown sugar hard sauce.  I have a recipe for Stem Ginger Hard Sauce here.

I put a piece of parchment paper over the opening of the jar and covered with the glass top and loosely put on the screw-ring.  I put the jars in a stock pot with a rack on the bottom and filled with hot water to almost halfway up the jar.  Then I steamed them for 3 hours.

Carrot Pudding        adapted from The New Eastern Star Cookbook  1952

½ c butter

1 c sugar

1 c grated carrots

1 c grated potato

1 ¼ c flour

1 t baking soda

¼ c hot water

1 t cinnamon

½ t nutmeg

¼ t allspice

¼ t salt

1 c raisins

½ c chopped walnuts

1 t vanilla

Cream butter; beat in sugar.  Add carrots, potato and flour.  Dissolve soda in hot water; add to mixture.  Blend in remaining ingredients in order listed.  Pour into well-greased mold.  Place waxed paper over pudding; cover with lid.  Steam for 3 hours.

 Brandy Sauce                 from Spoonful of Thyme
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter

1 1/2 T milk
1 egg beaten
1/4 c brandy, or to taste

In medium saucepan, cook over low heat the sugar, butter and milk until the sugar dissolves.  Cool 5 minutes.  Stir in beaten egg and liquor to taste.  Serve warm or at room temperature.