Pudding on the Brits

I don't know about with you, but it's been snowing here in Edinburgh this weekend, so something totally warming, perhaps stodgy and oh-so comforting is required. Quick as a flash, Fanny flies in with her long-forgotten solution, native to these isles and once found on almost all kitchen tables - the steamed pudding. A savoury one to boot. She claims it's one of her very favourites, as it has cheese in the crust, but of course she puts her own special twist on it to help with the presentation...

Fanny says she's flicked through all the cookery books she owns (which I imagine are simply the ones she has written herself) and despite all her furious research, she has been unable to find anything even remotely similar to this, ever, in history. She's not claiming to have invented this one, she does recognise that she may have seen it somewhere, she is just not sure where or when. This does not stop dear old Fanny from unveiling it to the world.

Fanny's savoury crust of course uses proper, everyday, honest to goodness suet. No-one would ever need to explain it, or indeed have any consideration that you may not be happy to eat it. Thank heavens for a vegetarian version courtesy of Atora snuggling away in my cupboard waiting for such a weekend as this. Once nestled in with the flour (self-raising as Fanny always insists), some additional baking powder, a little seasoning, a whole load of cheese and 'enough' cold water to make a good stiff dough no-one would ever be able to tell anyway. I love a suet dough, it's so manageable and as I've used bright red cheese in this one, you can really see the flecks as your roll it. I'm feeling warm and cheery already.

Fanny fills her pudding with beef. pork or veal, so I swap that for some frozen vegetables. It seems appropriate for this oh-so freezing weekend. Fanny herself was a fan of the freezer too, so I'm not going to feel too badly. All seems fine. I fling the spinach and butternut squash into pans (separate ones) and cook them down. The squash goes all squishy, but that's fine as I want a very rough purée, honest. To both I add a touch of seasoning and a grind of fresh nutmeg. Oh and egg yolks, just like Fanny does to her meat. I wonder of she made hers look like google eyes too? Actually, probably.

Any normal suet pudding, even a savoury one, Fanny notes, would start off with the pastry lining the well buttered bowl. Not here. Oh no. Fanny builds up layers in stripes of cheesy suet crust and filling, cutting suet discs in every increasing circles to fit the bowl. Fanny steams the pudding for two and a half hours before unmoulding. She does warn that these puddings are not for the faint hearted or those nervous of turning them out in front of guests. If you fall into these categories, Fanny recommends that you serve it just from the bowl, with a clean napkin wrapped around it, or revert back to an old fashioned style pudding, with the bowl lined and filling inside. I think in giving such an instruction most readers would quiver and cave in. But why would you pass the opportunity to slice into this striped beauty and wow your guests, not only with the taste but with the style too. Please don't be a pudden and allow suet puddings to remain forgotten, they really are so very perfect for a winters treat.

Steamed Syrupy Suet

I've been trying to readjust to British food and cookery this week after a welcome 'vacation' in the States, so was keen to reconnect with the Fanny Cradock recipes of old. And what could be more fitting than a twist on a Victorian recipe for Steamed Suet Pudding? Even better to help me with the transition, it contains Maple Syrup which of course is a favourite breakfast addition Stateside. I may have had the odd waffle, pancake and/or French Toast while away... Fanny herself isn't always keen on suet puddings, despite her love of steaming. She says there are three types - they can be like the ones we all had at school (apparently) with dates in, which were weighty enough to break a limb if dropped upon it! Or they can be 'dreary beyond belief' because they are filled meanly and slathered in custard to compensate. Or of course, they can be like the ones Fanny makes. Apparently W. Somerset Maugham was so in love with the steamed Chocolate Pudding made by Fanny that he had thirds at a luncheon in London. The recipe Fanny shares here isn't that one - although Fanny teases that it will be shared much later in the partwork - but instead this is Johnnies all time favourite, Steamed Coconut and Maple Syrup Pudding. Johnnie too can easily manage thirds, but only if it's sodden with syrup...

The basic suet crust is easily made. I am of course using a good quality Vegetarian Suet here, which I have always found to work well. I've no idea how it compares to the usual variety, but I imagine there isn't a great deal of difference. The crust is a dough made by mixing the suet with flour and binding with cold water. Just a few tablespoons of water is enough, added gradually until it all binds.

It comes together really easily and soon forms a ball which can then be rolled out. You can still see the suet bits in the dough, but the paste is stretchy and pliable, rolls out well and generally doesn't stick to the surface if a little flour is added. 

Fanny makes one large pudding, presumably so that Johnnie can get stuck in, but I'm opting for smaller individual sized ones. After two weeks in America I'm keen to return to smaller portions wherever I can! So I line circles of crust in buttered Dariole moulds and half fill them with a paste made from mixing desiccated coconut and maple syrup. This is topped with a circle of crust before another layer of mix and a final disc of suet to seal.

As Ina Garten herself might say, how easy is that? The moulds need to be covered in oiled greaseproof paper and foil and then steamed for around an hour. I always add a pleat in the paper to allow for any expansion. Fanny doesn't tell me to, but equally she doesn't give any instructions so it's assumed we know. I'm using my bamboo steamer this time, I love the smell it creates in the kitchen! Fanny recommends if you are making a mahoosive Johnnie-sized pudding that it should be steamed for two and a half hours. The individual ones look great, and turn out well. The coconut filling is deep and flavoursome, with a good kick of sweetness from the Maple Syrup. The suet crust is light and certainly wouldn't break any limbs if dropped on them. I can easily see why Johnnie would have thirds, so make a couple extra than you need just incase you have a Johnnie in your midst.