The Magic Pudding

• Behind every successful man, there is a good woman. Tony Bilson is one of Australia's top chefs. The Christmas Pudding recipe is below is from Tony Bilson's mother. It was published in The Sydney Morning Herald's Good Living of Nov 23-Nov 29 1999. A reader with a l-o-n-g memory reminded The SMH that it had once published such a recipe many years before and, please, could they reprint it. Miss E has done this pudd - and it is a corker. Is it because it has stout - and the rum? Miss E being an expatriate Queenslander always uses Bundy Rum. The stout, of course, is Guinness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Evelyn Bilson’s Christmas Pudding
  Ingredients (serves 12)
• 1½ cups suet
• ¾ cup plain flour
• ½ cup almond meal
• 4 cups soft breadcrumbs
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 1tsp mixed spice
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 4½ cups mixed fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants, figs)
• 1/3 cup mixed peel
• ½ cup stout
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp marmalade
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• 1 fresh tart apple, grated
• 4 tbps rum or cognac
• ¼ plain flour, sifted.
  Method:
• Rub suet into the flour and add remaining dry ingredients.
• Mix well.
• Add stout, stir in eggs and add marmalade.
• Add lemon zest, juice and apple and finally the rum or cognac.
• Let stand in a cool place overnight for the flavours to amalgamate.
• Take a wet pudding cloth (use a 75cm square of unbleached calico) and wring it out.
• Sprinkle liberally with the extra flour and place the pudding on top. This helps give the pudding a better skin.
• Gather corners and sides of the cloth around the pudding and pull tightly to give it a good, round shape.
• Tie tightly with string about 2.5cm above the top of the pudding to allow for expansion.
• Steam pudding in a bowl sitting in boiling water in a large saucepan for 4 hours and then hang it in the pantry for at least 2 weeks, until Christmas.
• The pudding must not touch anything.
• In hot weather, it is better to store it in the refrigerator.
  Brandy Sauce
  Ingredients:
• 6 egg yolks
• ½ cup orange juice
• ½ cup caster sugar
• ½ cup brandy or cognac
• ½ cup melted butter
  Method:
• Have ready a pot of simmering water.
• Mix yolks, orange juice and sugar in a stainless-steel bowl and whisk over simmering water until doubled in bulk and falling off the whisk in a stream or ribbon.
• Remove from heat and whisk in brandy, then melted butter.
• Serve warm with the pudding.
  Serving the Pudd
• Steam pudding in a large saucepan for a further 2 hours,
• remove cloth and
• transfer to a serving dish.
• Bring to table, pour over warmed brandy
• and ignite immediately.
• Serve with brandy sauce.

Apple Puddings

Come, dear Reader, and let's grapple with an apple. My father told my mother that he married her because of her mother's Apple Pie. There is nothing quite like an Apple Pie to win the heart of a traditional male. It never fails. But one needs some variation and Miss Eagle is always on the look-out for dishes that meet the same criteria as the Apple Pie. These two recipes, the Boiled or Baked Apple Pudding (I steamed mine) and the Bread and Butter Apple Meringue Pudding, meet the criteria:

• traditional qualities
• plain
• substantial and filling
• full of flavour

BOILED OR BAKED APPLE PUDDING

From The Schauer Australian Cookery Book

Well grease a pudding basin with butter substitute. Coat well with brown sugar. Line basin with suet or short dripping crust. Fill basin 3 parts full with peeled, cored and thickly sliced apples. Mince 2 pieces of candied peel. Spread over apples with a grating of nutmeg. Cover with 1/2 cup of sultanas or currants and large tablespoon of butter substitute in small pieces. Cover closely with pastry lid pinching wet edges together well. Cook for 2 hours in slow oven or steam 3 hours.

When turned out has a nice brown crust and is delicious eating.

Miss Eagle's Notes

• There is nothing quite like suet or dripping as the fat component in a shortcrust pastry. Suet is particularly good in boiled puddings such as the Christmas Pudd in a cloth. However, I am no longer prepared to kill animals for this purpose and use butter or a substitute.
• The pastry I used was 6oz Plain Flour; 1 tablespoon of butter; 1 dessertspoon of lemon juice; salt; water.
• When stretching the pastry in and across the steamer, I put some of the apples in the base of the steamer to hold the pastry in place. I then stretched the pastry into place across the steamer. The apples, sultanas and candied peel (read mixed peel), were then added. I used all the apples I had and the steamer was probably more than three parts full. I then put the pastry lid on and tucked the pastry above the apples on the sides of the steamer in and around in a pinched edge.
• As the apples cook, they sink and this is responsible for the wrinkly look of the pudding.

BREAD AND BUTTER APPLE MERINGUE PUDDING

The basic format for this is the Bread and Butter Custard which itself is based on the traditional Baked Custard. Back in Miss Eagle's early life when imperial measure was all the go, Baked Custard was made with 1 pint of milk, 2 eggs, 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar, and a capful of vanilla. These are the proportions I still use. Bread and Butter Custard is made by adding 2 slices of buttered bread cut into quarters. Queen Pudding is a further variation on the Baked Custard in that the eggs are separated and the whites whipped into a meringue with caster sugar. The Baked Custard when cooled is spread with jam and then topped with meringue and baked in a slow oven to lightly brown.

So to this variation. The dish in which I baked the Pudding is quite large. I used lots of apples - about 8 to 10 Granny Smith's although they were not large. Layer the apples with buttered bread cut into quarters sprinkling brown sugar and sultanas between as you go. I used 5 eggs, separated. Beat the yolks and milk together with vanilla. Fill to the brim. Sprinkle with grated nutmeg. Place Pudding dish in a baking dish of water and bake in a slow oven. When Pudding is baked and cool, spread with jam and cover with meringue made from the whites of the 5 eggs and caster sugar. Bake in a very slow oven until cooked and coloured. Absolutely scrumptious!

Miss Eagle's dear friend Jim came to Melbourne last weekend leaving his better half, Sylvia, back in Tennant Creek in the far away Northern Territory because he was purchasing a truck for his earthmoving business. The beautiful Angela, his daughter, flew down - on an exit week-end because it was Labour Day in Queensland - from St Peter's in Brisbane to meet her father.

So, on the night they spent at The Trad Pad, a roast dinner was on the menu - followed by this wonderful Steamed Apple Pudding straight out of Miss Eagle's favourite, The Schauer Australian Cookery Book.

The Steamed Apple Pudding (a slice is pictured above) is a variation of Miss Schauer's A1 Pudding. So, firstly, the recipe for A1 Pudding then Miss Schauer's variation and, finally, Miss Eagle's notes:

A1 Pudding

Cream 4 oz. butter and 4 oz. sugar together till quite white, add a yellow rind of a grated orange, 2 well-beaten eggs, beat well after adding, then add 1/4 cup milk alternately with 6oz of twice-sifted self-raising flour. Put into a greased pudding bowl, three-parts full. Cover with a buttered paper. Steam 2 hours. Allow to stand 2 or 3 minutes before turning out. Turn out carefully and serve with an orange sauce.

Clear Lemon, Orange or Pineapple Sauce

Put the juice of 1 lemon or orange, or 1 cup pineapple juice with a dessertspoon of lemon juice, into a saucepan with 1/2 pint of water and a heaped tablespoon of sugar. Bring to the boil, then add 1 level dessertspoon of cornflour mixed with 1 tablespoon of water, stir till it boils, then boil three minutes. Add a few drops of pink colouring. Strain and serve with steamed or boiled puddings. Use juice of 1/2 a lemon if making Orange sauce with the orange juice. A teaspoon of lemon or orange grated rind may be boiled with sauce.

Delicious Steamed Apple or Any Other Fruit Pudding

Grease a pudding basin or small individual moulds, then spread A1 mixture round the bottom and side, reserving a little to cover over top; fill centre with apples minced, sprinkle with sugar, adding 2 cloves, then spread mixture over top; cover with a buttered paper, steam for 2 hours; if served in small individual moulds, would only need 1.2 hour. Any other stewed fruit may be used instead of apples. Serve with a custard sauce.

NOTE. - Grate apples for individual moulds.

Miss Eagle's Notes

• Miss Eagle used orange juice and a little milk instead of milk alone
• Purchase a good quality aluminium steamer complete with lid to obviate the need for the butter paper procedure
• Use Granny Smith apples
• As will be noted, Miss Eagle quartered the Granny Smiths and sliced them. Next time, she will slice them even thinner - or put them in the food processor.
• Didn't do well with having the mixture adhere to the sides. So put half the mixture in the bottom of the steam, then just laid the apple slices on top, laid the remaining mixture on top and pressed it down lightly with the back of a spoon.
• You can omit the sprinkle of sugar - the pudding is really sweet enough.
• Miss E forgot the cloves but didn't miss them.
• The Pud was delish.
• Highly recommended.

Feather Pudding is No. 1

To-day, June 1, marks the official beginning of winter. This is the ideal time for pudds: steamed puddings. Miss Eagle's yummiest favouritest is Miss Schauer's Feather Pudding - 1 with lashings of custard. Yes, there is a Feather Pudding -2 but Miss Eagle has never got past No. 1 because it is wonderful. It has been particularly wonderful this week with the liberal use of Bette Connop's Blood Plum Jam.

FEATHER PUDDING - 1

Cream 1/4lb butter with same quantity of sugar, add 2 well-beaten eggs (white and yolks beaten separately), 6oz self-raising flour, 1/2 cup milk. Flavour with vanilla. Cover bottom of basin with raspberry jam or golden syrup. Place mixture on. Steam 2 hours quickly. Serve with a suitable sauce.

FEATHER PUDDING - 2

Cream 4oz butter and 2 tablespoons of syrup together, add 1/2 cup milk with 1/4 teaspoon bi-carb. soda mixed in it. Then add 1 1/2 cups well-sieved self-raising flour. Steam for 2 hours, and serve with a syrup sauce.

On the menu 1: Saucy Seafood & Lemon Pudding

Saucy Seafood

This dish is for those who love shellfish. As the nights get cooler in the Southern Hemisphere, it is a cosy main course. It is a variation on Brie Mussels, provided by Clarice over at Storybook Woods. And while you are there, have a look at Clarice's take on How to roast a chicken. Very interesting and very creative.

SAUCY SEAFOOD 3 bacon rashers with rind removed 1 leek - or replace it with 2 onions Fresh garlic. Mis Eagle loves heaps. 1kg shellfish - this comprised green mussel meat, green prawns, and scallops, debearded

1 cup dry white wine (or water but wine is better) 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard 1 ( around 8-ounce) brie, very cold, rind removed and cut into pieces

In a large pan fry bacon and set aside crisped bacon. Drain off most fat. Keep 1 tablespoon and add oil. Sautee leeks/onions until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, 1/2 the parsley, and bay leaf and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the shellfish, wine, and cream, and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, about 5 minutes. You will know when the shellfish is cooked when the green prawns turn red. Remove from the heat. Discard bay leaf. Stir in Dijon. Add cheese, crumbled bacon, rest of parsley. Pour into a large, deep serving bowl. Serve immediately with hot French bread for dipping and lemon wedges.

And for dessert, straight from Miss Schauer and The Schauer Australian Cookery Book is something quite old-fashioned, Lemon Pudding.

LEMON PUDDING

Grease pie-dish. Butter bread, cut in dice, put 3 layers at bottom of pie-dish. Melt 2oz. of butter in a saucepan, add the juice of 2 lemons and the rind of 1, add 1 cup sugar, small cup water, the yolks of 2 eggs, beat well. Put into oven to set, then place meringue on top, sprinkle with pink sugar.

Miss Eagle's Notes: Yum yum. Luscious. However, would suggest an extra white for the meringue. Felt it spread a bit thin. An extra yolk into the mix would go well.

MISS EAGLE'S MERINGUE

Bowl and beater should be cool and dry. When separating whites from yolks, there must be no skerrick of yolk polluting the whites. Unless Miss Eagle is doing large quantities, she prefers to use her favourite rotary beaters (see previous post). Beat whites until stiff (they will be a soft-ish sort of stiff) and then add caster sugar a dessertspoon at a time to taste. The adding of the sugar slowly and beating well in before each addition gives the stiffness to the meringue. All sugar should be beaten well in so that no grain can be detected. After placing on pie, return to oven which is very low and leave meringue to set and brown slightly.

MISS EAGLE'S PINK SUGAR

Take about 2 tablespoons of sugar and add about two drops of red food colouring or cochineal. Mix in with a spoon. Colouring should be used very sparingly to give the sugar its pale pink colour. A little goes a long way. If you don't use the full amount, the rest can be stored in a jar for use next time.

Jam or Sherry?

The Old Foodie and Miss Eagle have passed some correspondence on the topic of Saucer Cheese Cake. Miss Eagle's original reference is here. Then Jane from yarnstorm helped out and the reference is here. The Old Foodie says

saucer cheesecakes were simply cheesecakes baked on saucers - there are saucer pies and tarts too. In the old days people didnt have so many cooking pans as we have now, so they used whatever they had, and saucers were useful to use up small amounts of pastry. I am not sure if it is a particularly northern England expression.

and then she later replied with this:

I was just researching an article on puddings for a bakery magazine, and found this, in Cassell's Shilling Cookery (an English cookbook) from 1888

Saucer Pudding

(suitable for a child or invalid)

Mix a teaspoonful of flour to a smooth paste with a little cold milk,

and stir into this as much boiling milk

as will make up the quantity to a teacupful,

Let the liquor cool, then add a well-beaten egg

and a little sugar and flavourings.

Pour the preparation into a large buttered saucer,

and bake in a well-heated oven.

When done enough, turn the pudding upon a plate,

and serve with jam, or a little sherry if preferred.

Time to bake, twenty minutes. Sufficient for one person.