My Grandmother's Plum Pudding recipe
List of Ingredients
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.
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
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.
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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.
Recipe
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