Tradition, Meet Science.
Jan. 23rd, 2023 01:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Mary Berry's (Post) Xmas Pudding... For Science!
450 g dried fruit: currants, sultanas, and raisins (I used currants, cherries, and apricots as the wife does not like raisins)
1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
1 orange, finely grated rind and juice
3 Tbsp brandy, sherry, or rum, plus extra for flaming (I used apricot brandy in the pud, and flamed with overproof rum)
75 g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
100glight dark brown sugar
2 eggses
100g self-raising flour (I used 1/4 c flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/16 tsp baking soda)
1 tsp mixed spice (I used 1/4 tsp each cassia, true cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger)
40 g fresh breadcrumbs (I used house-made)
40g whole shelled almonds, chopped
Brandy butter (We made hard sauce, which is basically the same thing)
1/4 cup brandy or rum (I used 1 Tbsp overproof rum)
Measure the dried fruit and apple into a bowl with the orange juice. Add the measured booze, stir, and leave to marinate for about an hour.
Cream the butter, sugar, and orange rind in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggses, adding a little flour if the mixture starts to curdle. Sift together the flour and spice, then fold into the creamed mixture with the breadcrumbs and nuts. Add the soaked dried fruit with their liquid and stir well.
Generously (No, even more than that) butter a 2 1/2 pint pudding basin. (I used a Pyrex mixing bowl.) Cut a small disc of foil or parchment and press into the base of the basin. Spoon the mixture into the basin and press down with the back of a spoon. Cover with a layer of baking parchment and foil, both pleated across the middle to allow for expansion. Tie securely with string and trim off excess paper and foil.
Set the basin in a steamer insert or similar, and set the CultPot to steam for 15 minutes. When done, cook on manual for 45 minutes. Remove from the CultPot, let cool, and let age for at least a week in a cool dry place.
To serve, steam in the CultPot for 20-40 minutes, depending on how deep brown you like your pudding. (I went with 40.) Keep on warm until ready to serve. Remove, turn out, top with booze, and set alight. Serve with brandy butter and enjoy.
What worked: This is a classic recipe from a classic baker, so I was unsurprised to have it come out classically - even with changing the dried fruit to a more-Californian mix. It was a lovely dark color from the longer steaming (which was my intent). This came out more-or-less in one piece and flamed the way puddings are supposed to. The fuzzy upstairs neighbor, who grew up eating traditional puds made by his traditional English grandmother, said it "looked and tasted right." Adapting this very traditional recipe to the CultPot worked beautifully in much less time.
Rich, indulgent, and a lovely (post) holiday winter dessert. It would have been even better with a glass of port.
What didn't: We didn't butter the Pyrex bowl (or the foil at the bottom) sufficiently. Even though we were pretty generous about it. We had to loosen the pudding with a plastic spreader to release it from the bowl. While the pudding turned out without falling apart (much), there was more stickage to the foil than I expected. I'd probably use parchment next time.
The wife poked some holes in it and drizzled a bit more apricot brandy over after the initial steaming; I am not sure it mattered. Honestly, it didn't need the hard sauce. And I should have put it on the table with the lights off to capture the full flaming glory. (Although 1 Tbsp rum seemed to be plenty.)
Will I make it again? I might well for next Xmas, yes. I might try to get dried plums or prunes as one of the fruit, because then it would be a plum pudding.
450 g dried fruit: currants, sultanas, and raisins (I used currants, cherries, and apricots as the wife does not like raisins)
1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
1 orange, finely grated rind and juice
3 Tbsp brandy, sherry, or rum, plus extra for flaming (I used apricot brandy in the pud, and flamed with overproof rum)
75 g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
100g
2 eggses
100g self-raising flour (I used 1/4 c flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp salt, 1/16 tsp baking soda)
1 tsp mixed spice (I used 1/4 tsp each cassia, true cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger)
40 g fresh breadcrumbs (I used house-made)
40g whole shelled almonds, chopped
Brandy butter (We made hard sauce, which is basically the same thing)
1/4 cup brandy or rum (I used 1 Tbsp overproof rum)
Measure the dried fruit and apple into a bowl with the orange juice. Add the measured booze, stir, and leave to marinate for about an hour.
Cream the butter, sugar, and orange rind in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggses, adding a little flour if the mixture starts to curdle. Sift together the flour and spice, then fold into the creamed mixture with the breadcrumbs and nuts. Add the soaked dried fruit with their liquid and stir well.
Generously (No, even more than that) butter a 2 1/2 pint pudding basin. (I used a Pyrex mixing bowl.) Cut a small disc of foil or parchment and press into the base of the basin. Spoon the mixture into the basin and press down with the back of a spoon. Cover with a layer of baking parchment and foil, both pleated across the middle to allow for expansion. Tie securely with string and trim off excess paper and foil.
Set the basin in a steamer insert or similar, and set the CultPot to steam for 15 minutes. When done, cook on manual for 45 minutes. Remove from the CultPot, let cool, and let age for at least a week in a cool dry place.
To serve, steam in the CultPot for 20-40 minutes, depending on how deep brown you like your pudding. (I went with 40.) Keep on warm until ready to serve. Remove, turn out, top with booze, and set alight. Serve with brandy butter and enjoy.
What worked: This is a classic recipe from a classic baker, so I was unsurprised to have it come out classically - even with changing the dried fruit to a more-Californian mix. It was a lovely dark color from the longer steaming (which was my intent). This came out more-or-less in one piece and flamed the way puddings are supposed to. The fuzzy upstairs neighbor, who grew up eating traditional puds made by his traditional English grandmother, said it "looked and tasted right." Adapting this very traditional recipe to the CultPot worked beautifully in much less time.
Rich, indulgent, and a lovely (post) holiday winter dessert. It would have been even better with a glass of port.
What didn't: We didn't butter the Pyrex bowl (or the foil at the bottom) sufficiently. Even though we were pretty generous about it. We had to loosen the pudding with a plastic spreader to release it from the bowl. While the pudding turned out without falling apart (much), there was more stickage to the foil than I expected. I'd probably use parchment next time.
The wife poked some holes in it and drizzled a bit more apricot brandy over after the initial steaming; I am not sure it mattered. Honestly, it didn't need the hard sauce. And I should have put it on the table with the lights off to capture the full flaming glory. (Although 1 Tbsp rum seemed to be plenty.)
Will I make it again? I might well for next Xmas, yes. I might try to get dried plums or prunes as one of the fruit, because then it would be a plum pudding.
