Daring Bakers: A British Pudding

You remember in my last post how I said I made the maramlade for a recipe in a sweet little cookbook full of Lancashire recipes? You remember how I mentioned that a lovely friend from Leeds sent me that cookbook? I don't think I ever truly thanked her as well as I should have for that cookbook. THANK YOU, ANNE!!! This little cookbook is very small but filled with great recipes that I like to imagine being served in a small cottage in the middle of England with a cup of tea and a story from an old granny. It's home cooking that I pretend my Nana would have made for me if we lived across the pond.

  

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. We were given free-range to make whatever pudding we wanted so long as it was steamed. We could go savory or sweet, prepared for breakfast or dessert. Nothing else mattered.

I of course was scared to death. This was my first baking challenge. I didn't know where to get suet from. I don't even have a regular butcher that I can go to with these crazy requests (I think it's time for me to find one though). I decided to go with a dessert pudding and came across the one I used in the little Lancashire cookbook. Since I had also come across the marmalade recipe only a week or two ago I knew it would be perfect for my challenge. Now, the pudding truly was not my favorite thing in the world. It actually worked even with all of my reservations about it, but I just wasn't loving the texture. I even asked my hubby, "Is it a fail if the recipe worked but you didn't like it or a success that you just didn't happen to enjoy?" He says it's a success, and who knows. Maybe you'll like it better than I did.

Millers Marmalade Pudding

Recipe from Favorite Yorkshire Recipes, adapted by me

3 Tbl orange marmalade (or rhubarb marmalade if you've made it yourself)

4 oz flour

4 oz granulated sugar

4 oz soft margarine (1 whole stick, I used butter)

1 tsp baking powder

2 medium eggs

Sauce

4 Tbl orange marmalade

1/4 pint water/orange juice mixed (I forgot the orange juice but it was fine)

2 tsp arrowroot (I couldn't find any and therefore left this and the next ingredient out)

2 Tbl cold water

1. Place a large pot, big enough to hold your pudding bowl, on the stove filled about halfway (you want enough water to come about halfway up the pudding bowl but not so much that it submerges it). Place a ball of foil or other item that will keep the bottom of the bowl from touching the bottom of the pan (this was not a step in the original that I knew about from reading up on puddings; I just used a large biscuit cutter made of metal that worked perfectly). Begin to heat water on medium heat.
2. Grease a 2 pint heatproof pudding basin and place 3 Tbl marmalade in the base. Put the flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, and eggs into a large bowl, mix, and beat well for 2-3 mintes until soft and of a smooth consistency. Alternatively, use a food processor and process for 30 seconds.
3. Put the sponge mixture on top of the marmalade in the basin. Cover with a circle of greasproof paper and then seal with foil (I didn't have any parchment paper and was forced to cut a circle out of aluminum; it worked just fine but stuck a little so grease it first if you have to do the same).
4. Cover and steam for 2 hours. Prepare the sauce while the pudding is steaming by warming together in a saucepan the 4 Tbl marmalade and water/oj mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Blend the arrowroot and cold water to a smooth cream and stir in some of the marmalade mix. Return this to the pan and heat, stirring untilt he sauce thickens and clears.
5. Turn out the pudding onto a warm plate and serve hot with the sauce.

My First Marmalade

It may come as a surprise to you, but I don't really care for marmalade. Oh sure, it's nice and citrusy and is almost always a beautiful orange color, but the batch I tasted in Ireland years ago was so overwhelmingly bitter I had to wonder what they did wrong when they made it. After almost six years, I've finally figured it out. They didn't put rhubarb in it!

I came across this super simple recipe on All Recipes while perusing the many rhubarb recipes that are out there. It was rather fortuitous that I found it since I have a very special recipe coming up that is part of my first Daring Bakers' Challenge that also came from a small cookbook sent to me by a very special lady from leeds (thank you again, Anne). This rhubarb marmalade is sweet and a little tart but definitely not bitter.

I only made one minor change this time around, but I've already got high hopes for the next time, and there will be a next time. If you do get adventurous and decide to try to make it for yourself, definitely cut the sugar down by at least half of a cup. It's very sweet, which didn't bother me too much, but others might find it cloying. Enjoy!
 

 
Rhubarb Marmalade
Recipe from All Recipes, adapted by me
 
6 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb
6 cups sugar
2 medium oranges
5 whole cloves

1. Combine rhubarb and sugar in a large heavy saucepan. Grind oranges, including the peels, in a food processor; add to rhubarb mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often until marmalade sheets from a spoon, about 1 hour.
2. Pour into hot jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Adjust caps. Process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.

Blood Oranges

Awhile back I came across a recipe for clementines preserved in honey. I've never had a clementine. I don't think I've ever even seen them in real life. I ripped out the recipe making a note to try it if I ever do come across the little orangey fruit. Another fruit I've never tried or even seen was the blood orange. Imagine my surprise when my local grocery store had a mountain of them just hanging out in the produce section.

 

I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do with them when I bought them, but I knew that there were plenty of recipes out there for this interesting orange. Named for the dark red flesh hidden inside the mottled skin, blood oranges are a definitely an interesting fruit. For a week the oranges sat in my trifle bowl on my table with some lemons, limes, and kumquats. I don't know what reminded me of the honey preserved clementines, but I just knew it would be perfect for the blood oranges. How right was I! The trecipe even suggests using them as a variation (it also suggests meyer lemons which I'm hoping to get my hands on in a month or two).

My oranges still have a few more days before they can be eaten, but I'm already thinking about the many different ways I can enjoy them (and with a whole quart of them sitting in my fridge, there are plenty of ways for me to enjoy these sweet little citrus treats). The recipe suggests cutting them up and serving with yogurt or adding them to frosting for a cake. There are many other ways Fine Cooking suggests eating them, but I'm hoping to make a rustic tart with some soft whipped cream. Enjoy!

Honey-Preserved Blood Oranges
Recipe by Fine Cooking, adapted by me

1 cup honey
1 cup granulated sugar
5 whole cloves
2 green cardamom pods (I didn't use these since I didn't have any on hand, but next time I'll be using them)
1 4-inch cinnamon stick
1-1/2 lbs blood oranges, sliced into 3/4-inch-thick slices

1. In a 4-quart saucepan, bring 1 cup water and the honey, sugar, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon stick to a boil o ver high heat (be sure to really watch it during this stage as it will boil over fast; I almost started a fire in my apartment).
2. Gently slip the blood orange slices into the liquid without stirring. If any pieces are mostly rind, place them rind side down. Return to a full boil and then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, keep covered, and set aside overnight, at least 8 and up to 12 hours.
3. Spoon and gently pack the slices into a 1-quart canning jar. Bring the syrup in the saucepan back to a boil over medium-high heat; boil for 3 minutes to concentrate the flavors.
4. Pour the syrup over the slices to cover; discard any excess syrup. Cool to room temperture. Seal and refrigerate for at least a week before using. The oranges should keep for up to 3 months.