Heirloom Christmas Pudding

Look!  It's my first ever little, delicious, Christmas Pudding!

In our family, it has always been one person's task to produce the Christmas Puddings for the remainder.  Now obviously, when we lived in Germany, it was a tad tricky for my Nanna to get a pudding to us for Christmas - so generally, we came back to England for Christmas and got our pudding that way.  However, for the years when we couldn't return to England, my Nanna sent her recipe to my Mum so that she could make the same pudding.  We really aren't sure where Nanna got her recipe from, as she was separated from her parents due to emigration to Canada.  It is possible that she could have asked her Mum for her recipe and received it by post during this time, or alternatively, she could have picked up a recipe from just about anywhere.  Unfortunately, she has been gone these last twenty years or so and we can't ask her.

Nanna's Christmas Pudding recipe, written on Air Mail paper, having been sent to my Mum in Germany.

As the years went by and my Nanna became less able to do the serious arm-work of stirring the puddings, my Mum took on the job.  The recipe remained the same for a number of years, until the awareness of health issues began to make themselves felt in changes to the old familiar recipe.  Things like using a sunflower margarine instead of suet, for instance.  Also, people's tastes began to change and we all agreed that we really didn't like the candied citrus peel, so marmalade began to be used instead.

Mum's trusted slow-cooker recipe

Then the recipe evolved a little further, in that the slow cooker had been introduced and made it so much easier to cook the puddings.  Far better to be able to steam them in the slow cooker, where it was unlikely to run out of water, than on the hob where you had to keep checking the water levels and couldn't leave the process alone for longer than half an hour.

This year, for the first year ever and following my Mum's comments that, last year, the making of the puddings was rather more taxing than ever before, I managed to convince her to hand the mantle over to me.


Doing a quick calculation on my fingers, it seems to me that the original recipe (still in my Nanna's own handwriting from where she sent it to my Mum all those years ago) has to be in excess of 100 years old.  Knowing how - over the years - the recipe has evolved, made me want to add my little adjustment to it.  My additional fingerprint in the ingredients.  I love the thought that the puddings now have all our fingerprints - my Nanna, my Mum and myself - involved in the recipe.

I must admit that I threw all notions of making the puddings healthier, straight out of the window.  Well, you eat Christmas Pudding just once a year (unless you cook one for Easter, which does happen!), so to have a richly indulgent Christmas Pudding is entirely right and proper.

So, my puddings were made with 100% butter.  Changes to the recipe also included adding some Medjool dates - we'd found some at a local greengrocer and I'd been sent some even nicer ones to sample.  They were so juicy and delicious, it just made sense to include them.  I also steeped the fruit in non-alcoholic Ginger cordial from The Dorset Ginger Company before mixing.  This plumped up the fruit and added a lovely warmth to the base pudding flavour.  However, the biggest change to the puddings was that I didn't use flour in the recipe at all.  The mix was made with 100% breadcrumbs, a mix of 60% white bread/40% wholemeal, which made a huge difference to the texture of the puddings.

Now I know how much difference it made, because I made a small tester pudding too!  Well, when it's your first go, it pays to be on the cautious side.

So cute - so yummy!  All glamorous photographs will have to wait until Christmas!

I steamed the puddings individually in the slow cooker, each for 12 hours.  The buttery, spicy juices overflowed slightly as the puddings cooked and the house was filled with gorgeous smells that tantalised in a most promising fashion.

The time came to try the tester pudding and my heart was in my mouth as I turned the ramekin upside down into the bowl.  Would it come out in one piece, would it pour out disgustingly, or would it be like concrete?  No!  The pudding was light textured - definitely not one that would stick your teeth together, as so many of them do.  With juicy fruit, lovely spicing with the warmth from the ginger, the occasional flavour bomb in the shape of a whole cherry which seemed to have sucked up the Guinness stout and spiced rum into its hollow interior, soft prune, sticky date, earthy nuttiness and the richness of butter - it is a triumph.

I cannot begin to tell you, how relieved and happy I am that the puddings have turned out so well.  Perhaps you can imagine!  After all, I had 100 years of successful Christmas Pudding making behind me to live up to.  That's fairly heavy responsibility, for someone about to change the recipe.

So, if you haven't yet made your Christmas Puddings and are looking for a richly indulgent, light textured pud with the wisdom of ages woven through its recipe, you can't go far wrong with this one.

HEIRLOOM CHRISTMAS PUDDING  (makes 2 medium sized puddings - and a tester!)

Ingredients :

450g raisins
225g currants
225g sultanas
200ml ginger cordial with 100ml hot water
50g medjool dates, pitted and sliced into chunks
150g glace cherries, approx half of them sliced in two, the remainder left whole
50g orange marmalade
zest of half a lemon
20g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
20g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
20g walnuts, roughly chopped
50g ground almonds
half a tsp freshly grated nutmeg
half a tsp (generous) ground mixed spice
half a tsp (generous) ground cinnamon
quarter tsp sea salt
65g soft brown sugar
1 (generous) tbsp black treacle
450g softened butter
375g fresh breadcrumbs (60% white/40% wholemeal)
6 large eggs, beaten
4 tbsp spiced rum
170ml (approx) Guinness Foreign Extra Stout.

Method :

1.  Place the raisins, currants and sultanas into a very large bowl.  Mix the ginger cordial with the hot water and pour over the fruit.  Cover with cling film and leave for 30 minutes in a warm room.

2.  Uncover the fruit and give them a stir.   Next, add the dates, cherries, lemon zest, marmalade, almonds (both chopped and ground), walnuts, hazelnuts, nutmeg, mixed spice, cinnamon and salt.  Give everything a good stir to mix the spices through evenly.

3.  Next, add the soft brown sugar and the treacle and stir again, until the treacle has been mixed through thoroughly.

4.  Add the softened butter.  Put your spoon to one side, make sure your hands are spotlessly clean, your sleeves are rolled up - and scrunch the butter into the fruit mixture with your fingers.  Once it is evenly spread, add one third of the breadcrumbs and scrunch again to incorporate them into the mix.  Repeat until all the breadcrumbs are included and the butter is evenly spread.

5.  Add the beaten eggs.  You can go back to using a spoon if you like - but I found using my hands to be so much easier, as you can feel the texture of the mix.  Continue to mix until the eggs are completely combined.

6.  Add the rum and half the stout.  Stir well to combine.  Now how much of the remainder of the stout you include, depends entirely upon how wet the mix is by now.  The end result you are after, is thick enough to clump together on a spoon, but wet enough to be able to drop easily from the spoon, if turned.   So continue to add the stout until the correct texture has been reached.

7.  Using a little additional butter, grease your two pudding basins liberally - and a tester ramekin if you're using one.

8.  Divide the mixture between the two basins, pressing down as you go, to make sure they are completely full.   Try to leave a quarter of an inch (at least) lip around the top of the basin, to allow for expansion during cooking.

9.  Take a square of greaseproof paper and fold a pleat into the centre.  Place the pleat over the middle of the basin and fold the sides roughly over the edges.

10.  Fold a doubled piece of silver foil with a pleat and place this over the greaseproof, smoothing it down over the sides.

Words fail - see picture!

11.  Take a piece of string and lay it across the top of the pleat, making sure you have enough spare to tie it either side - this will form a handle which will make removing the basin from the slow cooker, a lot easier.

12.  Place a large piece of string below the lip of the basin and knot it, pulling tight so that the greaseproof and foil are held tightly to the basin and the single piece of string has either end caught under the tightening string.  Knot it securely.

13.  Tie the ends of the "handle" to the tightening string, remembering to leave room to get a finger underneath!

14.  You should now have a made Christmas Pudding, all ready to go into the slow cooker for the next 12 hours.  The tester pudding will need to have something to sit on in the cooker, to prevent it from submerging and it can be cooked alongside one of the larger puddings.  The water level needs to be a good third of the way up the larger pudding basin - and start off with boiling water, as this saves the slow cooker from having to do the heating of it.

Before being cooked, the puddings will last for a few days in the fridge.  However, once cooked, remove the greaseproof/silver foil combo and replace with a clean version.  The pudding can now be kept in a cool, dark place for as long as you need it to be.  I have known puddings be left for some 2 years or more and still come out looking and tasting perfect.

Printable version
 

Small batch chutney making : Spiced Rhubarb Chutney

Ever since Ruby our rhubarb plant, started to get really (no, really) big, hubby has been saying "we should make some rhubarb chutney".

Now I had a go at it, waaay way back when, which wasn't all that successful.  It tasted fine at the time, but I always know when something hasn't been as successful as it first seemed, because a) nobody eats it beyond the first day and b) nobody asks for it again.

So I'd been on the lookout for an "interesting" rhubarb chutney, but to no avail.  Everything just seemed like ordinary chutney, or was a "something else and rhubarb chutney", which would meant that the rhubarb took a back seat instead of being the star of the show.

Rhubarb, shallots, vinegar & spice - just starting to cook

As the year progressed, I was running out of time.  Ruby had burgeoned and been cropped twice and her growing year was coming to an end.  Then, sudden high winds overnight (no chortling, please - not THAT kind of "high winds"), left her battered, bruised and in desperate need of cropping.  Oddly, her daughter (Ruby 2) was left untouched by the gusty conditions, so we've got more rhubarb to come yet.

Cooking down and smelling amazing!

Hubby took the mighty kitchen knife and went out there last week and cropped a vast amount of rhubarb from Ruby.  We gave huge amounts to a neighbour and kept a small mountain for ourselves.  So far, that mountain has made this Spiced Rhubarb Chutney and a delicious Spiced Rhubarb Fool (yes, I'm big on spice at the moment).

I have no idea what to do with the remainder of the mountain, except make some more chutney, perhaps!

You see, this chutney is good.  No, it's very good.  The rhubarb is, without doubt, the star of the show and the mixed spice has served to warm it up beautifully.  The combination of the shallot, garlic and cider vinegar has had an amazing effect upon the tang and sharpness of the rhubarb.  Instead of being rendered a savoury version of a rhubarb jam, this is very definitely a tastebud tingler of a chutney.

The recipe had been in my hands all along.  I'd been given a book - The Complete Book of Preserving by Marye Cameron-Smith - a long time ago, by the lovely Laura Cousins.  I'd looked through it at the time, but it has since sat on the shelf doing nothing.  So when faced with a mountain of rhubarb, my thoughts became rather more focused and I suddenly remembered the book.  A quick peek inside led me to the Rhubarb Chutney recipe, which was so simple it just begged to be made.

It is, however, a very British chutney.  It's not the kind of chutney that you would have alongside a curry, for instance.  It is very definitely best with some salty, strong cheddar cheese - and in fact, when taste testing this batch (before it was cold, even), we'd got through a good percentage of our block of cheese.  Yup, it was that good.  I'm sure it would be fabulous with a pork pie, or some sausage rolls, too.

Because we don't have oodles of empty jars, nor oodles of empty cupboard space for the filled jars, I went for the "small batch" approach, in the same way as my jam making.  Being just a scaled-down version of the original recipe which made 6 pounds of the stuff (yes, I had to get the calculator out - my maths just isn't up to being able to work those sorts of sums out - and even then, I had to ask how many grams there was in a kilo), I saw no reason why it shouldn't work - and it did.

Next time, I'm going to make rather more and - ssssh! Don't tell! - use them as Christmas presents for those people who have everything and you just can't think of what to get them.  As hubby commented, well, money can buy just about everything - but it won't buy you this chutney!

Oh, and as a "cook's note" - I used the ultra-deliciously-gorgeous Maille Cider Vinegar.  If you should decide to have a go at this one, I heartily recommend you use it too - and why not have a teaspoonful neat while you're at it.  Your saliva glands will go into overdrive, but it's an experience that just has to be sampled.  I drink it by the tablespoonful now, as it seems to do good things for my arthritis.



SPICED RHUBARB CHUTNEY  (makes one large jarful)

Ingredients :

230g fresh rhubarb, sliced
38g shallot, sliced finely
a tiny grate of garlic (one third of a clove and no more!)
1 heaped teaspoonful of mixed spice
pinch of sea salt
85ml cider vinegar
85g granulated sugar.

Method :

1.  Into a small stainless steel pan, put the rhubarb, shallot, garlic, spice, salt and half the vinegar.

2.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the rhubarb is very soft.  I added a teensy tablespoonful of water as my rhubarb was resisting softening and the pan was running out of juice.

3.  Add the sugar and remainder of the vinegar and stir gently until chutney has thickened.

4.  Decant into a container and leave to cool.

Store in the fridge.

Printable version

What to do with some ageing bananas? Why, Banana Bread, of course!

I'll tell you what, I reckon that for every banana I've ever bought, there have been at least one or two that have lingered on in the fruit bowl, until being heaved into the bin.

This is because of several factors.

The first is that, although I like bananas, I also know that son & heir and hubby also enjoy bananas - so I don't eat them because I can eat other things like oranges (which they don't enjoy so much).

The second is that as soon as a banana shows the slightest blemish on its skin, son & heir won't touch it as he's convinced the blemish goes right through to the fruit.  I don't know how many times we've demonstrated that this is not the case, but he still won't touch a banana that has even tiny black spots.

Lastly, hubby reckons that I'm hosting a retirement home for aged and infirm bananas, in which they can moulder away in peace.

Now bananas have taken on a new importance in our house since hubby has been diagnosed with diabetes.  They are a good "emergency breakfast" for him, in circumstances where true breakfast might be a few hours away.  Being portable, they are perfect for grabbing on the run and eating when on the move.

This is why they are now appearing with more regularity in the Rest Home (a.k.a. the fruit bowl).

I hate to lose a good banana, although I can't eat them when they are very old and winey as they have a habit of repeating on me for the remainder of the day.  This has then, of necessity, meant that I have needed to investigate ways of making use of our elderly yellow friends.

I mentioned making Banana Bread to hubby some months ago, but the bananas then deteriorated so rapidly that they had to be virtually poured into the bin.  This time, when two vaguely mangy-looking fruit appeared to be languishing in the fruit bowl, he struck - and made Banana Bread.

The recipe is his very own, in that he did some research beforehand and the end recipe is an amalgamation of little bits of other recipes.  You could say that he's taken other recipe authors' advice, and come up with a recipe of his own.

Either way, I've got to say that this Banana Bread was extremely yummy!  Quite fine textured, it has a lovely strong banana flavour that leaves you in no doubt as to its main ingredient.  The end result is almost as soft as a sponge cake, but is definitely robust enough to sustain a little butter being spread across it, or accompanying some custard as a dessert.

He'll have to watch out, or I'll be hiding bananas away with the intent of not eating them before planting them in the fruit bowl - all ready for conversion to Banana Bread!

Oh, and because all his best recipes he claims to have been "made with love", his recipe is written so that you, too, can make your Banana Bread for your family "with love".  I take no responsibility for the terms in which it is couched.  *chuckle*

BANANA BREAD 

Ingredients :

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

75g melted butter

200g granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
200g of plain flour.

For dusting :

1 tsp Cinnamon powder mixed into 4 tsp caster sugar.

Method :

1.  In a large bowl, mingle the melted butter and the mashed bananas.

2.  Amalgamate the mixture with sugar, egg, mixed spice and vanilla extract before wafting in the baking soda and the salt.

3.  Finally, with a smile on your face, a contented sigh and using a wooden spoon, massage the sieved flour into the gloop before dolloping into a well buttered but neat little 8 by 4 inch loaf tin.

4.  Thrust into an oven, pre-heated to 350f (175c), and bake for one hour.

5.  Poof the top with the cinnamon sugar and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Demonstrating a very well poofed top.  Oh yes.

(I particularly enjoyed the "poofing" of the cinnamon sugar - Jenny E.)

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Easy peasy dessert : Spiced Rhubarb Crisp

Ruby : overflowing her planter somewhat!

I had been pondering over what to do with the rhubarb when hubby decided to crop Ruby, our Timperley.

One bagful has definitely got to go to my parents, as we forgot to give them the last one!

Other than that, I needed to think of something yummy - and something out of the ordinary (for me!) that would showcase the rhubarb in all its glory.

It was too soon to do the Pork & Rhubarb dish, and I wasn't feeling like anything savoury with it anyway.  So a sweet dessert was what was on the cards.

Hence when this last weekend, hubby decided to strip poor Ruby down to all but four leaves (although she has got a whole heap of baby leaves coming along!), I was halfway there with a recipe.

I had seen photographs of a dessert dish that a friend of mine over in the States had done, called Apple Crisp.  I couldn't remember the details of how to make it, but that was what provided the inspiration for this.

I'm afraid I have no idea how much rhubarb went into it - "three long sticks and three short sticks" doesn't really describe it terribly accurately for you.  However, the important thing with the rhubarb is that it is laid in one flat layer in the bottom of whatever dish you're using - which is why I used a Lasagne dish.  The object of the exercise is that the rhubarb doesn't dissolve into mush, nor does it produce so much juice that the breadcrumb topping dissolves.  Put in one layer like this, the juice can (pretty much) evaporate before it soaks the breadcrumbs.  Equally so, it is important not to put too many breadcrumbs on top.  You don't want to be ferreting around under breadcrumbs, looking for your rhubarb!

Another point worth mentioning is that the breadcrumb topping is the focus of where the sweetness is.  As such, you don't want to over-sugar the rhubarb.  Let is retain a lot of its tartness so that the change in texture from soft, tart rhubarb to crisp, sweet breadcrumbs is really apparent.

This is definitely a dessert dish to be eaten hot, straight from the oven.  Allow it to cool and you allow the breadcrumbs to soften as they absorb the juice from the rhubarb.  Also, it's very good with double cream!  So naughty - but so nice!

SPICED RHUBARB CRISP  (Serves 4)

Ingredients :

Enough rhubarb to cover the bottom of a Lasagne dish in one layer of pieces chopped to around 1cm.
2 tbsp & 4 tbsp granulated sugar
Two dry crusty bread rolls, grated to breadcrumbs (food processor does this in a second)
20g soft butter (room temperature)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice.


Method :


1.  Pre-heat the oven to 180deg C.

2.  Lay the rhubarb into the bottom of the Lasagne dish, making sure it is all flat.  Sprinkle the 2 tbsp sugar over.


3.  Put your breadcrumbs into a bowl and add the spices and remaining sugar.  Mix them in with your fingers, then add the butter and rub that in like you would for crumble.


4.  Once everything is combined, tip the breadcrumb mixture over the top of the rhubarb in an even layer.  Do not press it down, it wants to remain lightly laying on top.


5.  Bake in the oven for some 25-30 mins or until the top is browning and the rhubarb juice is just beginning to become evident.


6.  Serve straight from the oven.


  

Weekend baking with your son : Spiced Apple Muffins

One jolly little muffin, with serried ranks of muffin-ness behind

Hubby and I had been discussing the issue of Son & heir's breaktimes when at school.  Or, more specifically, what he is eating at said breaktimes.

I had found myself falling into a trap of simply getting a cereal biscuit bar from the cupboard and sending him off with that.  Now, okay, the cereal biscuit bars I had chosen weren't the worst in the world, being low in fat and sugar, but then they weren't great either.

So I resolved that as, for the next few years, I shall be responsible for what goes into him at times such as this, I'd better get my act together and provide something "healthy", or watch him disappear into obesity - which is a family trait.

I think the slide into grabbing something from the cupboard is a symptom of my gradual slide towards ill health, as it is infinitely easier to spend the few seconds doing so than fixing up a healthy snack which inevitably takes longer and costs more to me in energy etc.  However, I can't help but think that it costing me in energy etc., is probably a good thing as opposed to a bad thing - even though it may hurt like hell in the long run.

Now I won't claim to have hit upon the answer, but this is a topic upon which I shall be returning to for regular performance reviews.  (Oooh, that takes me back to working for the Civil Service and their regular performance reviews.  ~shudder~).

The programme I'm working to at the moment, is fairly easy.  Well, it has to be really.  In the same way as I meal plan for each week, I shall snack plan too.

So, here's how this week is shaping up :

Monday : Spiced Apple Muffin

Tuesday : Peach

Wednesday : small pack of plain savoury biscuits

Thursday : Spiced Apple Muffin

Friday : Apple

On the occasions when I haven't been able to bake, I'll break out the cereal biscuits.  However, I'm aiming to change the plan to include three items of fruit in a week - but I've got to go slowly, or there'll be complaints!

The plain savoury biscuits are one section from a Party Snack Pack.  Each section is easily cut away from the rest and as the biscuits are baked, not fried, and don't contain cheese, I figure they're not too terrible at 114 calories a section.  The crackers are mainly a selection of wheat, sesame and poppy seed crackers and at £1 for a pack of eight sections, it's pretty darned economical, too!

So, from reading along, I'd say you've probably guessed what this recipe is all about - the Spiced Apple Muffins.  They've got to be healthier than the cereal bars, and even if they're not, at least I know exactly what went into them!

Don't worry if you don't have a set of American style measuring cups - just use a teacup! So long as you use the same cup throughout, you'll be fine.  Try to resist sprinkling more sugar on their tops - it's nice, but it's just more sugar.

We made these together, in that I cut up the apples and son & heir did everything else - including licking the bowl clean.  Well, it just has to be done when you're 12, doesn't it!

SPICED APPLE MUFFINS (makes around 12)

Ingredients :

2 cups grated apple (did mine in a food processor : 1 bramley, 1 cox, 1 gala!)

2 cups plain flour

half a cup of sugar

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch salt

half a cup of raisins

half a cup of dessicated coconut

half a cup of vegetable oil

quarter of a cup of olive oil

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

3 eggs.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat oven to 180deg C.

2.  In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.

3.  In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs and oil together.

4.  Add the oil mixture and grated apple to the dry ingredients and stir until it has all combined.  Don't over-stir.

5.  Spoon into muffin cases and bake for approx 20-25 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.