A hearty winter steamed pudding. Easy to cook when you have an ESSE cooker as you can leave it to steam away in the oven. It gets its name because of the amount of butter in the middle which melts when it’s boiled and soaks into the suet pastry with the marvellous tartness of lemon and ginger cutting the richness.
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 225g self raising flour
- 110g suet
- 110g butter, softened plus extra for the basin
- 110g light muscovado sugar
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- A walnut size piece of fresh root ginger, grated
- A pinch of sea salt
Method
- Butter a 900ml pudding basin using plenty of softened butter.
- Mix the suet, flour and a good pinch of salt with about 120ml cold water or more and mix with a table knife to a soft dough.
- Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a circle, reserving a quarter for the lid and line the basin.
- Mix the sugar and butter together then add the grated ginger.
- Make a few slits in the lemon with a sharp knife.
- Put half of the butter/sugar mixture into the basin then place the lemon on top and add the remaining butter/sugar on top. Roll the reserved piece of pastry large enough fo cover the top of the basin. Dampen the pastry edges and place the lid, sealing well by pressing edges together.
- Cover with buttered kitchen foil, making a pleat across the centre to allow the pudding to rise. Tie around with string.
- Put a trivet into the base of a large saucepan, add a quarter full of water and bring to the boil.
- Put the pudding into the pan, cover the pan with a lid and put into the oven 150C (ESSE dial guide low end of HOT) and steam for about 3 1/2 hours.
- To serve, allow to cool before turning out onto a serving plate. Delicious when served with custard flavoured with a bay leaf.
Winter comfort recipes prepared by Philippa Vine using the Ironheart wood-fired cooking stove at Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen and Cookery School in East Sussex.
