Moist Plum Pudding Food

CHRISTMAS PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour, bread crumbs, suet, eggs, carrot, apple, brown sugar, chopped blanched almonds, stem ginger, ground almonds, cherries, raisins, currants, golden raisins, mixed peel, plums, lemon juice and zest, mixed spice, baking powder and ale. Let each family member take a turn stirring and make a wish. If you have used more dry fruit than fresh, add a little extra ale to make the mixture less stiff.
• Grease 2 large or 4 small pudding basins. Fill with pudding mixture about 7/8 full. Cover tightly with greased waxed paper, then foil; secure with string. Stand pudding on a trivet in a large pot of boiling water that reaches halfway up the sides of the pudding basin. Steam puddings over medium-low heat in boiling water 10 hours for large puddings, 5 hours for small puddings, topping off water regularly until quite firm and set.
• If not serving immediately, let cool completely, then replace covers with fresh waxed paper and foil and store in a cool, dry place, basting from time to time with rum or brandy, for up to 3 months. To serve, reheat by steaming 2 to 3 hours.

PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• Oil a 2-quart steamer mold or pottery bowl very well with vegetable oil and let it stand as you make the pudding.
• Combine the fruits and nuts in a large bowl. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and spices into the fruit and nuts. Add the suet, bread, brown sugar, eggs, and jam and blend well. Beat with a wooden spoon to lighten the mixture. Pour into mold. Cover with circle or parchment paper and put on a rack in a large kettle with enough water to come halfway up the sides. Cover and keep water boiling, replenishing as necessary. Steam for 6 hours.
• Uncover pudding and pour brandy over it; put a piece of waxed paper over pudding; replace parchment and set in a cool place or on low shelf of refrigerator to ripen.
• To serve, steam for 2 more hours and invert on a serving platter. Add the 1 teaspoon sugar to the cognac, heat, pour over warm pudding, and flame with a match. Serve with hard sauce.

NANA'S TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS STEAMED PLUM PUDDING WITH HARD SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine the molasses, butter, milk, and eggs in a mixing bowl. Next, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a large mixing bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions. Toss candied fruit and raisins lightly with flour to prevent sinking and add to batter. Stir in brandy.
• Pour into a greased and sugared steam pudding mold and place on a rack in a large covered pot with water that comes halfway up the sides of the mold. Cover and steam for 2 hours, checking occasionally to make sure water hasn't boiled out. Let cool for 5 minutes on a rack before turning out. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with a sprig of holly and Hard Sauce.
• Beat all ingredients together until very well combined. Serve with pudding.

TINY TIM'S PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• Generously grease an 8-cup pudding mold, metal gelatin mold or ovenproof bowl; set aside., In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mix bread crumbs, flour, orange zest, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, salt and cloves; gradually add to creamed mixture. Fold in plums, dates, raisins, carrots and currants., Transfer to prepared pudding mold. Cover tightly with heavy-duty foil; tie foil with kitchen string to secure., Place on a rack in a stockpot; add 3 in. hot water to pot. Bring water to a gentle boil; steam cake, covered, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 2 to 2-1/2 hours, adding more water to pot as needed. Remove pudding from pot; let stand 5 minutes before unmolding., Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat hard sauce ingredients until smooth and creamy. Unmold pudding onto a serving plate; serve warm with sauce.

PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a 2 quart baking dish, stir together plums, 1 cup sugar, water, tapioca and cinnamon. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. (You can also cook the plum mixture in the microwave for 15 minutes.)
• Raise oven temperature to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, stir together baking mix, 3 tablespoons sugar, milk and melted margarine to form a biscuit dough. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto plum mixture. Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.

PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• Mix all ingredients but eggs and brandy in a large bowl (avoid metal or plastic). Cover and allow to ripen for 3 weeks in the refrigerator. Stir every few days. When the pudding is to be steamed, add eggs and brandy, if using into the mixture.
• Fill 2 buttered 2 - quart moulds or deep casseroles 2/3 full with mixture. Cover with a lid or seal with heavy duty foil.
• Set moulds in a steamer. Note, if you don't have one, place some small custard dishes upside down in the centre of a large, deep pot with a lid. Balance moulds on top of dishes. Fill pan with boiling water to halfway up pudding, cover pot and steam on low heat for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. ( For individual puddings, steam about 1 1/2 hours.).
• Serve 4, with sauce (see recipe below).
• Note: To preserve puddings, let cool completely, remove from dish (if desired) and let sit for 30 minutes to ensure completely cooled. Wrap in brandy-soaked cheesecloth, wrap in foil and place in a plastic bag. Store in fridge or a cool place until ready to rewarm. Remove cheesecloth before reheating in oven, wrapped in foil or in the microwave, covered in plastic wrap until heated through on medium. Or if you have a pudding steamer, just steam for about 20 minutes.
• Brown Sugar Sauce.
• Carefully caramelize 2 cups brown sugar in a large skillet. To 3 tablespoons flour add 2 tsp cold water and add to caramelized sugar. Add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 cup melted butter and 2 tablespoons whipping cream. Let mixture bubble, stirring constantly until mixture reaches consistency of rich cream. Flavour with vanilla extract, or brandy, to taste. Serve with Pudding.

ENGLISH PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• Sift first five ingredients together; stir in fruit.
• Soak crumbs in milk for ten minutes.
• Beat eggs and sugar together until lemon-colored; add suet and soaked crumbs and stir into flour-fruit mixture.
• Add brandy and mix well.
• Pour into greased molds, cover tightly and steam 3 to 4 hours (depending on the size of molds used) OR tie in a large piece of heavy muslin, heavily buttered and floured, allowing plenty of space for expansion.
• Place in a large kettle of boiling water with rack in bottom to hold pudding off the bottom.
• Boil 3 to 4 hours, replacing water as necessary.

PIRATE'S PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• The night before stirring up the pudding, combine the candied fruit, nuts, raisins, currants, dates, dates/dried fruits, lemon peel and orange peel.
• Pour 1/2 cup rum over the top of the mixture. Cover and let it soak overnight.
• Add apple, carrot, beef suet, flour, bread crumbs, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon, mace, cardamom, and allspice.
• Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
• Whisk together the eggs, fruit juice and 1/4 cup rum in a small bowl. Pour over the fruit/flour mixture, and mix lightly until all ingredients are moistened.
• Spoon into two buttered pudding molds. Cover top of each pudding with buttered foil.
• Cover top of each pudding mold with a cloth dish towel. Tie the cloth tightly to the top using a loop of kitchen twine.
• Place puddings in steamers and steam for 6 hours.
• Remove from steamers and store in a cool place until Christmas Day or New Years' Day.
• Return the pudding to the steamer and steam for 2 hours more.
• To make hard sauce, combined butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons rum to make a thick paste. Chill 1 hour.
• Form the hard sauce into a two balls (one for each pudding) and wrap in waxed paper and store in refrigerator until ready to serve the pudding.
• To serve the pudding, place the hard sauce ball on the pudding, and stick the holly sprig through it to anchor it to the top of the pudding.
• Pour warm 2 tbsp rum over the pudding, and touch the surface with a lighted match to flame the pudding. Carry it flaming to the table while everyone cheers.

CHRISTMAS PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• Grease 2 large pudding basins.
• Bring two large saucepans of water to the boil with a trivet or rack in the bottom of each.
• (I actually use two old pottery saucers in the bottom of mine) Mix all dry ingredients together.
• Rub butter into dry ingredients with your fingertips, add prepared fruit and grated carrot.
• Mix egg, milk, stout, brandy and rinds together.
• Mix the moist and dry ingredients together.
• (I find this easier to do with my hands).
• Place mixture in basins, allowing a little room at the top of the basins for the puddings to swell.
• Cover with greasproof paper, then two thicknesses of aluminum foil.
• Tie securely with string.
• Place the puddings into the prepared saucepans-- water should reach halfway up them-- and boil steadily for 5 hours.
• As the water boils away replace with more boiling water.
• On the day the pudding is to be served, boil for 1 hour mmore.
• Serve with cream, icecream, custard or brandy sauce (or all of these!).
• Last year, I discovered it works fine just to microwave individual slices rather than reheating for 1 hour.
• We also love the leftovers cold or re-fried in butter!

SUPERB ENGLISH PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• 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.

MOIST PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• Soak the Mixed fruits in the juices of the orange & lemon for at least 6 hours or best overnight).
• Butter the suitable mould/basin all round. It is better to line the bottom of the mould with greaseproof paper to ensure the pudding does not stick when un-moulded.
• Boil a pot (if possible with a lid) of water that could fit the mould/basin.
• Combine all the Dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon.
• Add in the Mixed fruits and mix well again.
• Add in the Wet ingredients and mix well again.
• Pour into the mould/basin. Cover with greaseproof paper which fits the size of the top of the pudding.
• Use aluminium foil and fold a pleat in the centre (to allow the pudding to expand while cooking).
• Cover the mould/basin snugly & secure it with a string.
• Boil on Medium flame for first half hour and then turn down the heat and simmer for 7 hours.
• Once cooked, leave it to cool slightly before unwrapping and un-moulding.
• Remove the foil and paper and turn the pudding out on a plate. It would still feel soft as it is hot.
• Once totally cooled, wrap it in cling film and foil and refrigerate it for at least 2 weeks or up to a month before cutting and eating.
• NOTE: You can either use any heat-proof basin/mould that resembles a pudding basin which fits into your pot of hot water.
• NOTE: Although I only used Mixed spice, you can use Orange Essence or Vanilla essence for preference.
• All the best!