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Featured Cookbook
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Crown Roast of Pork with Apple Stuffing and Hard Cider Sauce
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Chocolate-Orange Truffles
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Plum Pudding 101
Book Description
From the man who reinvented Thanksgiving comes--Christmas! This isn't to say that Buddhists, Jews, and Muslims should read no further. We're talking end-of-the-year feasting here. Gather up the family and clear the kitchen counters. Make room in the refrigerator. The old is about to give way to the new, and a great feast is the best gift of them all, be that a Christmas feast or whatever you may call it.
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Christmas 101: Celebrate the Holiday Season - From Christmas to New Year's
Authors: Rick Rodgers
Date: October 1999
ISBN: 0767903994
Publisher: Broadway
Paperback
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Make Ahead: Plum pudding should be made at least 1 and up to 3 days ahead. Allow 5 hours for the pudding to steam.
Plum pudding is a Christmas classic that just doesn't get served at any other time of year. It is absolutely beloved by the British, but hasn't established itself as one of America's favorite Yuletide sweets. nonetheless, I include it because the words "plum pudding" sing with holiday good cheer, and there is plenty of romance attached to it via Charles Dicken's well-known Christmas stories. And the proliferation of steamed-pudding molds in kitchenware shops in December show that I am not alone in loving this kind of dessert! Thanks to my British friends Howard Shepherdson and Rod Marlen for invaluable research assistance. Not only did they both supply their mums' recipes, but we had a taste-test of packaged plum puddings in their London kitchen. What a feast for my fellow plum pudding lovers.
In Britain and Australia, a homemade plum pudding is usually enormous and steamed in a big heat-proof bowl for 8 hours or more. I use a typical 6-cup tubed steamed-pudding mold to reduce the cooking time, even though it still takes 5 hours. Plum pudding can be aged for days, weeks, or even months, just like a fruitcake, doused every week with about 1/4 cup brandy, dark rum, or both. I find that for American tastes, a couple of days is enough. Steamed-pudding molds are available by mail order and at kitchenware shops.
Old recipes for plum pudding call for suet, the hard, crisp fat around beef kidneys. I prefer to use butter because it's easier to find, but you can substitute shredded beef suet, if you want a plum pudding that the Cratchits would admire.
The old-fashioned way to reheat a plum pudding is to steam it again until piping hot, but my British friends always use their microwave oven. The pudding is heated through when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center reads 165 degrees F. Be careful of the steam when you uncover the pudding.
For the traditional spectacular presentation, flambe the pudding with warm brandy and display it with pride in a darkened room, just be careful.
Some hard-line traditional cooks wouldn't dream of serving plum pudding without hard sauce (creamed butter and confectioner's sugar spiked with brandy). I prefer the coolness of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream with the warm pudding. The choice is up to you.
Makes 8 to 10 servings
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Butter and flour for the pudding mold
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1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
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1/2 cup (3 ounces) chopped pitted prunes
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1/2 cup (2 ounces) dark raisins
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1/2 cup (2 ounces) golden raisins
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1/2 cup (2 ounces) currants or additional raisins
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1/2 cup chopped candied lemon peel, candied orange peel, or a combination
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1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely chopped almonds
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1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs, prepared from firm white sandwich bread
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3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
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2/3 cup all-purpose flour
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1/2 cup stout
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2 large eggs, beaten
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4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, shredded on the coarse holes of a box grater
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2 tablespoons brandy or dark rum
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1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1 teaspoon ground ginger
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
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1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
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1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
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Grated zest of 1 orange
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1/4 cup brandy, for flambeing
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Hard Sauce (recipe follows), vanilla ice cream, or sweetened whipped cream, for serving
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Butter well and flour the inside of a 1 1/2-quart covered tubed steamed-pudding mold.
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In a large bowl, combine the apple, prunes, raisins, golden raisins, currants, candied citrus peel, and almonds. Add the bread crumbs, brown sugar, flour, stout, eggs, butter, 2 tablespoons brandy, cinnamon, ginger, salt, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and orange zest. Mix very well. Spoon into the prepared pudding mold, smooth the tops, and cover.
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Place the pudding on a trivet or a collapsible steamer rack in a large kettle. Fill the pot with enough hot water to reach the bottom of the steamer rack. Cover the pot tightly and bring the water to a boil over high heat.
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Reduce the hat to medium-low. Cook at a steady simmer, keeping a full head of steam going and adding boiling water to the pot as needed, for 5 hours. The pudding is done when it has lost its raw look, has a rich dark brown color, and is firm to the touch. Of course, you will have to remove the mold and open it to check the pudding's progress. Be careful of the steam and hot water!
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Transfer the pudding mold to a wire cake rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Invert the pudding onto a plate. Cool completely. Wrap the pudding in aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least overnight and up to 2 days.
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To reheat, butter the steamed-pudding mold well. Unwrap the pudding. To heat by steam, slip it back into the mold. Place the mold in the pot and steam again in simmering water until heated through, about 1 hour. To reheat in a microwave oven, place the pudding, upside down, in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover the pudding with plastic wrap. Cook on Medium-High (70% power) until heated through, 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the wattage of your oven (the higher the wattage, the less time needed to reheat the pudding). The pudding is heated through when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center reads 165 degrees F. Be careful of the steam when you uncover the pudding. Invert the pudding onto a rimmed, heat-proof plate.
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In a small saucepan, heat the brandy over low heat just until warm. Do not allow the brandy to come to a boil. (Brandy won't flame unless it is warm, but if overheated, it could unexpectedly ignite.) Pour the warm brandy over the pudding and light the brandy with a match. Present the flaming pudding, spooning the brandy over the top of the pudding until it extinguishes. Serve hot with hard sauce.
Hard sauce: In a medium bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, beat 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, until creamy, about 1 minute. On low speed, gradually beat in 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Beat in 2 tablespoons each brandy and dark rum and 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg. Serve at room temperature. (The hard sauce can be prepared up to 1 day ahead, covered tightly, and refrigerated. Return to room temperature.)
More From This Book:
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Crown Roast of Pork with Apple Stuffing and Hard Cider Sauce
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Chocolate-Orange Truffles
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Plum Pudding 101
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