Plum Pudding
Dec. 30th, 2009 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
foolish_m0rtalWhy is it called plum pudding? I don't see any plums: In the middle ages, 'plums' referred to raisins/raisin like dried fruit. The fruit, sugar, and alcohol acted as preservatives which made the pudding last a very long time. Because feed was scarce during the wintertime, all cattle would be slaughtered in the fall, and this pudding was also used to preserve all the meat. It was not unheard of to make the plum pudding for Christmas the previous year, mixing in a piece of the plum pudding from the previous year.
The recipe:
This is semi-legitimate English Plum Pudding modified from the Julia Child recipe and the patient week-long recipe that gives it more flavour. I was going to go straight Julia Child but didn't have suet, which is animal fat. I kind of have an aversion to animal fat/what other stuff do you make with suet? So are you going to shell out extra money for it? (hint: no)
So no, I couldn't recreate the recipe Child got from her very very English grandmother whose recipe has been passed down the family. But it still tastes exactly as my mother remembers it as a child (yeah, Indians apparently used to bake Christmas cake. At least, my grandmother did) and that's enough.
Note that the recipe calls for more butter to make up for the lack of animal fat.
1) Mix the fruits, lemon peel, spices, extract and 1/4 cup rum in a bowl or jar. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 4 days, remixing fruit and adding 1/4 cup rum when fruit becomes dry.
2) Toss bread crumbs and sugar in a large mixing bowl with the fruit-rum mixture. Then toss with the melted butter, eggs, and milk when mixture becomes thick.
3) Butter inside of pudding dish and steam pudding in the dish for 6 hours on low heat, adding water to the steam pot every hours whenever it becomes low.
4) When pudding cools, invert out of dish and sprinkle with remaining rum. Cover tightly and keep overnight. The pudding will taste better the longer it is kept, so if this is a dish meant for a group of people, consider making it a week in advance.
Don't ask me about setting it on fire, because I personally was not allowed to do it since the dining room is made of wood. The recipe says to sprinkle it with sugar, add heated rum, and set it on fire as you carry it to the table. You're pretty dangerous, my friend.
The recipe:
This is semi-legitimate English Plum Pudding modified from the Julia Child recipe and the patient week-long recipe that gives it more flavour. I was going to go straight Julia Child but didn't have suet, which is animal fat. I kind of have an aversion to animal fat/what other stuff do you make with suet? So are you going to shell out extra money for it? (hint: no)
So no, I couldn't recreate the recipe Child got from her very very English grandmother whose recipe has been passed down the family. But it still tastes exactly as my mother remembers it as a child (yeah, Indians apparently used to bake Christmas cake. At least, my grandmother did) and that's enough.
Note that the recipe calls for more butter to make up for the lack of animal fat.
| 3 cups fresh bread crumbs | 8 oz butter - melted |
| 1 cup black raisins, chopped | 4 eggs - large, beaten |
| 1 cup golden raisins, chopped | 1/4 teaspoon almond extract |
| 1 cup currants | 1/2 cup Rum or Bourbon |
| 1 1/3 cup sugar | 1 cup warm milk |
| 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon | 2 tblsp. chopped grated lemon peel |
| 1/2 teaspoon mace 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg |
1) Mix the fruits, lemon peel, spices, extract and 1/4 cup rum in a bowl or jar. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 4 days, remixing fruit and adding 1/4 cup rum when fruit becomes dry.
2) Toss bread crumbs and sugar in a large mixing bowl with the fruit-rum mixture. Then toss with the melted butter, eggs, and milk when mixture becomes thick.
3) Butter inside of pudding dish and steam pudding in the dish for 6 hours on low heat, adding water to the steam pot every hours whenever it becomes low.
4) When pudding cools, invert out of dish and sprinkle with remaining rum. Cover tightly and keep overnight. The pudding will taste better the longer it is kept, so if this is a dish meant for a group of people, consider making it a week in advance.
Don't ask me about setting it on fire, because I personally was not allowed to do it since the dining room is made of wood. The recipe says to sprinkle it with sugar, add heated rum, and set it on fire as you carry it to the table. You're pretty dangerous, my friend.
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 07:45 pm (UTC)...lol, the fire thing sounds pretty cool.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-30 07:53 pm (UTC)After coins stopped being made of pure metal their use was stopped because it was believed the alloy damaged the rest of the pudding.