When you feel a need for comfort, look no further than a soft and flavoursome steamed pudding. Mrs Beeton calls them "batter puddings" and provides a recipe for a baked version as well which includes instructions for decorating the finished pudding with "damsons, plums, red currants, gooseberries or apples." Otherwise, her recipes are spare in detail. Presumably, one learnt the necessary techniques from observing the more experienced cook.
I have inherited a 1970s pudding basin lid, pictured below in its red anodised glory. This marvellous contraption clips onto an enamel basin which then needs to fit into a saucepan of boiling water in order to cook.
Mrs Beeton advised those cooking in the nineteenth century to "tie it down very tightly" which is what my mother used to do before a neighbour bequeathed the said 1970s pudding lid. What is tied down after the pudding basin is greased with butter, is a double round of greased foil or greaseproof paper large enough to tie with string over the top and rim of the pudding basin, with 2.5 cm (1") pleat in the middle. Mrs Beeton doesn't say this, but unless you are making a pudding with jam or syrup as a topping, the bottom of the bowl should be lined with a round of greased greaseproof paper.
Marmalade puddings appear to have been popular around 1900. Mrs Beeton provides a recipe for one large enough for 6 persons where "half a pot" of marmalade is put "all over the top" as soon as the pudding is turned out of the basin. "It is advisable to warm the marmalade to make it liquid," she says, but the same effect can be achieved by placing some marmalade in the bottom of the pudding basin before steaming.
If using fresh fruit as a topping, peel and chop the fruit and place it in the bottom of the pudding basin before pouring in the batter. According to the redoubtable Mrs B, the finished product "must be sent quickly to table and covered plentifully with sifted sugar."
Rather than the "deep, deep pleasure" afforded by contemporary cook Nigella Lawson's rather decadent desserts, the steamed pudding provides a warm and comforting feeling with its light, spongy texture and sweet topping, just like a mother's comforting hug.
Batter Pudding, Boiled. - INGREDIENTS for good-sized pudding. - 3 eggs, 1 oz. (28g) of butter, 1 pint (570 ml) of milk, 3 tablespoonfuls of flour, a little salt.
Put the flour into a basin, and add sufficient milk to moisten it; carefully rub down all the lumps with a spoon, then pour in the remainder of the milk, and stir in the butter, which should be previously melted; keep beating the mixture, add the eggs and pinch of salt, and, when the batter is quite smooth, put it into a well-buttered basin, tie it down very tightly, and put it into boiling water; move the basin about for a few minutes after it is put into the water, to prevent the flour settling in any part and boil for 1 and a 1/4 hour. This pudding may also be boiled in a floured cloth that has been wetted in hot water; it will take a few minutes less than when boiled in a basin. Send batter puddings very quickly to table, and serve with a sweet sauce, wine sauce, stewed fruit, or jam of any kind, when the latter is used, a little of it may be placed round the dish in small quantities, as a garnish.
Cook's Tips:
- Fill basin no more than two thirds with pudding mixture, to allow for expansion.
- It's also a good idea to tie a string handle across the top of the basin to make it easy to lift the hot pudding from the steamer.
- Cover saucepan tightly and check water level from time to time, adding more water if necessary.
- At the end of the cooking time, lift out the pudding basin, remove cover and stand on a cake rack for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge and unmoulding pudding onto a serving platter.
Mrs B's baked and steamed batter pudding recipes can be found on page 38 of the 1900 edition of her Family Cookery & Housekeeping Book
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