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Mary Litchfield Grimwood’s 1890 English Plum Puddings

Mary Litchfield Grimwood's 1890 English Plum Puddings recipe image
This traditional English plum pudding is a hearty, dense dessert that captures the essence of 19th-century holiday cooking. Packed with a generous mix of raisins, currants, chopped apples, and nuts, the batter is bound with beef suet and buttermilk for a moist, tender crumb. Warm spices like cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg provide a comforting aroma that fills the kitchen during the long steaming process. Perfect for Christmas or special winter gatherings, this pudding improves with age and can be stored for months. Serve it warm, sliced, and accompanied by a rich brandy butter or hard sauce for an authentic, indulgent experience.
Cooking Method: , ,
Cuisine:
Courses:
Difficulty: Advanced
Servings: 2
Calories: 1442.0
Dietary: Vegan
Description
This traditional English plum pudding is a hearty, dense dessert that captures the essence of 19th-century holiday cooking. Packed with a generous mix of raisins, currants, chopped apples, and nuts, the batter is bound with beef suet and buttermilk for a moist, tender crumb. Warm spices like cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg provide a comforting aroma that fills the kitchen during the long steaming process. Perfect for Christmas or special winter gatherings, this pudding improves with age and can be stored for months. Serve it warm, sliced, and accompanied by a rich brandy butter or hard sauce for an authentic, indulgent experience.
Ingredients
  • All-purpose flour, sifted
  • Baking powder
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • Cinnamon
  • Allspice
  • Cloves
  • Nutmeg
  • Muscat raisins, seeded
  • Seedless nectar raisins
  • Sultanas
  • Currants
  • Finely chopped apples
  • Chopped black walnuts and pecans, mixed
  • Good beef suet, ground by butcher
  • Light brown sugar
  • Eggs, well beaten
  • Buttermilk
  • Soft fresh bread crumbs, from homemade-type bread
Directions
  1. 1
    Grease and flour six 1-pound coffee cans or pudding molds.
  2. 2
    Sift the 4 1/2 cups flour with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and nutmeg into a large bowl.
  3. 3
    In a separate bowl, toss the raisins, currants, sultanas, chopped apples, and nuts with 2 tablespoons of additional flour until lightly coated.
  4. 4
    In another bowl, mix together the ground beef suet, brown sugar, beaten eggs, and buttermilk until combined.
  5. 5
    Gradually add the suet mixture to the sifted dry ingredients, mixing well until a stiff batter forms. Add more flour if the batter seems too wet.
  6. 6
    Fold in the flour-coated fruit and nut mixture and the bread crumbs until well blended.
  7. 7
    Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared cans or molds, filling them only half full.
  8. 8
    Cover each mold with a double sheet of waxed paper or foil and tie down securely with string to prevent water from entering.
  9. 9
    For a regular steamer: Place a steaming rack in a large stockpot or boiling water bath canner. Add enough water to come just below the bottom of the rack.
  10. 10
    Place the pudding molds on the rack. Cover the pot tightly. If the lid is not tight-fitting, weigh it down or seal the rim with aluminum foil.
  11. 11
    Steam the puddings for 6 hours, adding boiling water as necessary to keep the water level constant and prevent the pot from boiling dry.
  12. 12
    Alternatively, for a pressure cooker: Place hot water in the cooker to reach just below the steaming rack. Place molds on the rack. Steam with the vent open for 20 minutes. Then attach the pressure control and cook for 50 minutes at 10 lbs pressure.
  13. 13
    Remove from heat. Let the pressure reduce completely before opening the cooker (if using pressure method).
  14. 14
    Carefully remove the puddings from the cooker and let them cool in the molds.
  15. 15
    To serve, slice the pudding and resteam in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until hot, about 1 hour.

Nutrition Facts

Servings 2 cups

Amount Per Serving
Calories 1442.0kcal
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 3.6g6%
Saturated Fat 0.7g4%
Cholesterol 0.0mg0%
Sodium 3162.7mg132%
Total Carbohydrate 327.2g110%
Dietary Fiber 14.2g57%
Sugars 111.9g
Protein 31.8g64%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Keywords: english, plum pudding, christmas, steamed pudding, victorian, suet, dried fruit, spiced, holiday dessert, traditional, raisins, currants, walnuts, apples, brandy butter
Read it online: https://www.chefs-mate.com/recipe/mary-litchfield-grimwoods-1890-english-plum-puddings/