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    My Grandmother's Plum Pudding recipe


    Source of Recipe


    rc-Phil

    Recipe Introduction


    Robert Farrar Capon

    Grandmother's Plum Pudding Recipe "John Bull's Own" [His grandmother,
    that is]
    A great recipe. Served with her sauce, it makes the Christmas feast
    complete. The finished pudding, if kept in a dry place, will keep for
    over a year.

    List of Ingredients










    1 pound kidney suet (membranes removed), chopped fine
    1 pound ground dried bread crumbs
    1 pound sugar (brown and white, mixed)
    1 pound muscat raisins [VERY important; these are the large ones, the
    'plums']
    1 pound seedless raisins
    1 pound currants
    1 pound candied peel (orange, lemon, and citron), chopped fine
    1 teaspoon cloves [he means ground cloves]
    1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
    2 teaspoons salt
    1 large cup ground apples, with juice
    1 cup flour
    8 eggs, slightly beaten
    1 wineglass Cognac

    Recipe



    Mix all ingredients in a large bowl by hand. [A *very* large bowl, and
    someone of the male persuasion, or a small cement mixer, to help stir it
    helps. If it is *impossible* to stir, add a little fruit juice of some
    sort, but the result should be *very* stiff.]. Select a number of
    bowls sufficient to accomodate the recipe. Fill them 2/3 full, cover
    with clean, white cloths and tie well (It's a good idea to use bowls of
    different sizes: That way you will have puddings of varying magnitudes
    to choose from).

    [I used the stainless steel mixing bowls, which are just the right shape
    for when it is turned out. What he does not make clear is that you
    need to line them with the cloth - I used pieces of an old white sheet),
    wrap it over top and tie.]

    Steam for 6 hours. Dry and store. Before serving, steam for 1 hour.
    ------------

    My Grandmother's Own Plum Pudding Sauce

    For a medium-size plum pudding, take 4 egg yolks, 4 tablespoons of
    sugar, 2 of cream, and 2 of Cognac. Place in a pot and whisk well --
    away from the fire; Then whisk on and off the fire, until the custard
    stage is reached. Back away, whisking, and add 8 tablespoons of
    butter. As with Hollandaise, when the butter is blended in, the sauce
    is finished. (Other proportions of Cognac to cream are, of course,
    possible -- as are othr flavorings than Cognac; the main secret,
    however, is in your hands. If you thank me for nothing else in this
    book, you will thank me for this).

    [If you are an amateur and coward like me you will do this in a double
    boiler rather than directly over the fire; 'like Hollandaise' it can
    easily go wrong if you make one wrong move].
    ======================

    Me again. You have now had your cholesterol allowance for the year, and
    I warn you it is very hard, at least in these parts, to get the right
    kind of suet. The steak trimmings that butchers save for people who
    want to feed the birds, are not the right kind. You need a personal
    relationship with a butcher to get it. One explained to me that in
    these days of fat-consciousness, cattle are being bred to have less fat,
    and they often just don't *have* what he is talking about. Do the best
    you can, it needs to be the hard white stuff and you cannot substitute
    any other form of fat, I discussed this with some people on the
    Yorkshire list once.

    This lends itself to the presentation as in A Christmas Carol, sprig of
    holly stuck on top, more Cognac poured over, and ignited before serving.

 

 

 


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