Steamed Plum Pudding Food

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.

STEAMED PLUM PUDDING WITH PLUM BRANDY SAUCE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan simmer the 2 1/2 c plums and juice for 6 - 8 minutes over low-moderate heat. Cool, remove the pits from the plums and discard the pits. Drain the plums, reserving the juice (for the sauce) and chop into 1/4-inch pieces.
• In a mixing bowl beat the brown sugar and melted butter together. Add the eggs, beating in well and blend in the plums. In another bowl sift together the flour, salt, and soda and add to the plum mixture, stirring gently. Generously butter a 1 1/2 quart mold with a cover. Pour the better into the mold. Cover the mold with the top or foil and place on a rack in a large kettle. Fill the kettle with water to reach halfway up the side of the mold. Cover the kettle and bring to a simmer over low heat. Steam for one hour.
• Remove the steamed mold from the kettle, uncover and place place in a 400 degree oven for 2 - 3 minutes to dry the top slightly. Cool the pudding for a few minutes unmold onto a warm serving plate.
• Warm the cognac in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, ignite, and pour over the pudding. Bring the flaming pudding to the table accompanied by plum Brandy Sauce.
• To prepare the sauce, in a small saucepan combine the 1 cup plum juice, the granulated sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cornstarch. Mix well and bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and blend in cognac, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon butter. Serve warm with plum pudding.
• Note: This pudding may be prepared 2 - 3 days in advance, wrapped tightly and refrigerated. If this is the case, before serving steam again in the mold for about 1 hour. This is really a delicious and festive holiday dessert -- give it a try!

STEAMED PLUM PUDDING

Steps:

• Generously grease bottom and side of 4-cup heatproof mold. In large bowl, pour milk over bread crumbs. Stir in shortening and molasses until well mixed. Stir in remaining pudding ingredients until well blended. Pour into mold. Cover with foil.
• Place mold on rack in Dutch oven. Pour in boiling water up to level of rack. Cover and heat to boiling. Keep water boiling over low heat about 3 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (If adding water during steaming is necessary, uncover and quickly add boiling water.)
• In 1 1/2-quart saucepan, mix all sauce ingredients. Cook over low heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Unmold pudding; cut into slices. Serve warm with sauce.

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.

STEAMING FIG PUDDING

Steps:

• Firstly you need dried figs that have been soaked (mine were in brandy because I had made fig brandy - http://www.food.com/recipe/fig-brandy-493487 ) you might want to leave yours for a few days in just orange juice or a drink of your choice.
• Use the mixer to stir the flour, suet and sugar together.
• Use the blender to make a purée from the figs.
• Mix the flour and fig purée together.
• Then add the water a little at a time until you get a soft "dough" (you might need a little more or a little less water depending on how wet other ingredients are).
• Butter 8 ramekins/tins/tubs that will hold about a tennis ball size of the mix.
• Fill each ramekin but leave a little space at the top as they will rise up.
• cover with foil and steam for 45 minutes in a double boiler type pan.
• Serve with custard, cream or icecream.
• (note - if you have used brandy soaked ones, don't give them to the children and don't drive !).

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.

STEAMED CARROT PUDDING

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in the carrots, potatoes, raisins, dates and nuts. , Pour into a well-greased 6-cup pudding mold or metal gelatin mold. Cover with foil. Place on a rack in a stockpot. Add 1 in. of boiling water to stockpot; cover and boil gently for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, replacing water as needed. Let stand for 5 minutes before unmolding., Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in water until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, vanilla and nutmeg. Serve with warm pudding.

AS-YOU-LIKE-IT STEAMED PUDDING

Steps:

• Generously grease a 1.2-litre pudding basin and put your chosen topping in the base. Boil a kettle of water. To prepare your steamer, put a snugly fitting upturned bowl in the base of a large, deep saucepan, big enough to hold the pudding.
• Put the ingredients for the sponge in a food processor and blend until smooth (but don't overwork the mix), then tip into the pudding basin. Cover with a lid made of baking parchment and foil, and tie with string to secure (see step-by-step). Stand the pudding on the upturned bowl in your saucepan. Pour in enough hot water to come halfway up the side of the pudding basin. Set over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid, lower the heat to a gentle simmer and leave to steam for 2½ hrs, topping up with boiling water if the level gets too low.
• Check the pudding is cooked by inserting a skewer through the foil and parchment lid into the centre of the pudding. If the skewer still has some wet mixture on it, return the pudding to the steamer for a further 15-20 mins, then check again. Once cooked, uncover and turn the pudding onto a plate. Serve straight away with custard, if you like.