Plum Pudding

donna

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Plum pudding
Lachlan Hardy [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons


This recipe for plum pudding is from "Old Time Recipes To Enjoy", "The Kentucky Explorer Magazine", January 2018.

Plum Pudding

"One pound of suet finely-cut, one pound of currants and one pound of raisins, eight eggs with one-half of the whites, breadcrumbs, grated nutmeg, one teaspoon of ginger, a pinch of salt, one pound of flour, and a pint of milk.

I just got this edition of magazine. There are many recipes for the holidays. Will try to post some others.
 
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Great post @donna, perfect for the season. I've never enjoyed plum pudding or any other 'pudding' variations. The below recipe is from the December 1860 Godey's Lady's Book.

RICH PLUM PUDDING — Stone carefully one pound of the best raisins, wash and pick one pound of currants, chop very small one pound of fresh beef suet, blanch and chop small or pound two ounces of sweet almonds and one ounce of bitter ones; mix the whole well together, with one pound of sifted flour, and the same weight of crumb of bread soaked in milk, then squeezed dry and stirred with a spoon until reduced to a mash, before it is mixed with the flour. Cut in small pieces two ounces each of preserved citron, orange, and lemon-peel, and add a quarter of an ounce of mixed spice; quarter of a pound of moist sugar should be put into a basin, with eight eggs, and well beaten together with a three-pronged fork; stir this with the pudding, and make it of a proper consistence with milk. Remember that it must not be made too thin, or the fruit will sink to the bottom, but be made to the consistence of good thick batter. Two wineglassfuls of brandy should be poured over the fruit and spice, mixed together in a basin, and allowed to stand three or four hours before the pudding is made, stirring them occasionally. It must be tied in a cloth, and will take five hours of constant boiling. When done, turn it out on a dish, sift loaf-sugar over the top, and serve it with wine-sauce in a boat, and some poured round the pudding.

The pudding will be of considerable size, but half the quantity of materials, used in the same proportion, will be equally good.
 
I had to look up what "suet" is - and I wished I hadn't. My fellow Germans, it's Nierentalg (kidney fat). :confused:
While I know that our iconic Christmas time cake "Christstollen" is also made with suet, the stuff itself to me is pretty disgusting. Does anyone know if it can be replaced in plum pudding or fruit cake by butter or margarine? Or do the latter ones contain too much water? Suet is pure fat, butter and margarine contain at least 20% water, maybe that's bad for the cake... Or what about clarified butter, or even palm fat? All sounds better to me than suet!
 
I had to look up what "suet" is - and I wished I hadn't. My fellow Germans, it's Nierentalg (kidney fat). :confused:
While I know that our iconic Christmas time cake "Christstollen" is also made with suet, the stuff itself to me is pretty disgusting. Does anyone know if it can be replaced in plum pudding or fruit cake by butter or margarine? Or do the latter ones contain too much water? Suet is pure fat, butter and margarine contain at least 20% water, maybe that's bad for the cake... Or what about clarified butter, or even palm fat? All sounds better to me than suet!

Maybe Crisco or lard would be a better substitute as it's still fatty, but not not as water based as butter?
 
Maybe Crisco or lard would be a better substitute as it's still fatty, but not not as water based as butter?

I'm afraid we don't have Crisco here. Just had a look, as it is made from Cotton seed oil, that sounds very exotic (in a most positive way!) to me. Maybe Palmin (being hardened palm seed oil) would do. Lard sure is the best substitute, and of course I have already eaten cookies made with lard, but I avoid thinking about it, lol.
To me, lard is best used like this:
upload_2017-12-7_17-34-10.png

Spread on a slice of freshly baked dark bread, with a pinch of salt and pepper ...
 
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Thanks for posting @donna! Have been looking for a Plum Pudding recipe. Especially like the fact that it calls for a "pound" of each ingredient - no tedious measuring.

@FarawayFriend was wondering about the "suet" as well; is this even available at the local grocery stores? Perhaps a butcher shop? I'll have to do some checking on that. If lard is an equivalent, then I'll go with that.

@JOHN42768 Hard Sauce was my choice too. Found the recipe in Fannie Farmer's cookbook, thought it would be a nice addition to the Plum Pudding.

Now, if I can set aside some time to make it!
 
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