Superb English Plum Pudding

Is the citron fresh or candied ?

• phjames3284

• Nova Scotia

• 11/26/2018

To Capers about steaming - there is a huge variability of instructions: steam on a rack above hot water in a covered pot; cook with water ½ way up side in a covered pot/pan; and the original, tie into into a cloth and boil in a pot of water. Further, a covered mold with a snap on metal lid, a bowl covered with a cloth tied under the rim, covered with tin foil under the rim, covered with a small plate then tin foil, etc? All very different methods in regards to what the mixture is actually exposed to. I'm still researching this and trying 3 different methods this year and will post later about the results. Whatever the technique, the key is low and slow to avoid a dense "close" texture.

• CookingonEastSt

• Annapolis

• 12/8/2014

I am making this for a dinner next month and I've read all the reviews and comments. But could someone give me more specifics about the "steaming" process?

• capers

• 12/2/2013

# typo. ,! Should have read fruit will react with the FOIL !

• Aussiebrum

• Hawaii

• 11/28/2013

Good recipe. I guess most folks know not to store this pudding with foil as the cover. Use anything but foil. If you do, the fruit in the pudding will almost certainly react when in contact with the fruit, and the pudding may develop mould. I've used a plate, inverted over the basin and then wrapped it all in cling wrap. If you aren't storing it for long you can skip the plate and just use the cling film. Or you can use a couple of layers of grease proof paper and THEN cover with foil.

• Aussiebrum

• Hawaii

• 11/28/2013

Sorry about the typos - should have read it before I hit "submit"

• mad_organist

• 10/15/2013

I made this twice, the first time with suiet - it came from the butcher's looking like hamburger, so I spread it on a cookie sheet, froze it, added a T of flour, and whirred it in my food processor. It was amazing. The second time, I decided to save a trip to the bitcher and use butter (using the defense that J Child uses butter in her recipe in The Way To Cook. If was far inferior, heavy & greasy rather than light, rich, and springy. If you can't bear the thought of a little suiet once a year, perhaps a truffle would be nice.

• mad_organist

• Farmington, NM

• 10/15/2013

I used a mixture of sultanas, currants, prunes, figs and mixed peel. I also added some fresh lemon zest. Soaked it for a week in brandy. I got fresh suet from the butcher. Next time I would use a little bit less. I made 2, 2L puddings. One was perfect, the other was very oily. I ate the good one the day after cooking. I'll keep the oily one until Christmas and hopefully it will dry out a bit. I have never made pudding before, but will be doing it again every year from now on. I made a vanilla custard and brandy butter to go with it. It looked amazing plated up, flambéed with warm brandy. One of my proudest moments!

• katie_cake

• Melbourne, Australia

• 7/24/2012

Here we are at March 13th, and I'm reporting in on the three month test pudding. Was late in getting to the plum pudding this past year, and only got them done on December 13th. This is the second year using this recipe, with a few tweeks, and I can't see a reason to move away from it. The flavour and texture of this test pudding was lovely. Even at Christmas it was great, but it was a little too "fresh". Modifications were reduced citron peel and raisin amounts in favour of candied cherries and chopped dates, and the addition of chopped walnuts. Did a triple batch so will have a great supply of well aged puddings for this Christmas.

• Orchardcroft

• Abbotsford, Quebec

• 3/13/2012

This review is for those having trouble finding suet. The easiest way to acquire the suet is to order it online from the British company Atora. Their suet is pre-chopped and keeps at room temperature for well over a year. A quick Google search will pull up their product (both real and vegetable suet varieties). The cheapest site by far to order the suet from is Amazon. I purchased two 8 oz boxes of suet through Amazon for $11 (only $4 shipping from the UK to the U.S.!). Other sites charge $20 or more for shipping so stick with Amazon. It is important to order well in advance of when you plan to make the pudding. My order took 2 1/2 weeks to arrive and the shipping estimate was up to a month from ordering time. But, considering the price and convenience of finding such a troublesome ingredient, it was worth the wait!

• tpno2005

• houston, tx

• 1/12/2012

Hi. If we take the recipe at its word and cook well in advance of Christmas, and we give the pudding "a dash of cognac, cover it with foil and keep in a cool place." Is that 'cool place' the fridge or a pantry cupboard? Just took the puddings [three from the recipe quantities!] from the oven and they look/taste fabulous... cheers/thanks Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Superb-English-Plum-Pudding-20010#ixzz1hQ2WGdQT

• paulmcgeough

• McLean VA

• 12/23/2011

I don't review often, but this is an unusual recipe for today's cook, so I'm sharing my experience with this delicious plum pudding. I had never made one before and had only eaten the store-bought kind, which I think taste "off." I followed this recipe closely with only a couple of changes. My family doesn't care for citron, so I substituted some preserved pineapple. Also, I used a very high quality brandy, instead of cognac. For suet, I used the Atora product, which I ordered online. The result was really, really good. After letting the pudding age a few weeks (during which I sprinkled some extra brandy a couple of times,) the pudding was served with a creme anglais sauce. (Any nice vanilla dessert sauce would be great.) Everybody really loved it! This recipe makes a lot of pudding. I filled a number of basins of various sizes. It's a really fun, tasty dessert to have tucked away in a pantry, ready to bring out whenever a special sweet is wanted. It was a long process to make and steam it, but then the puddings are there, ready whenever you need them. All in all, another awesome James Beard classic.

• Anonymous

• San Diego, CA

• 10/28/2011

I used butter instead of suet because I don't like the idea of using suet. I served with vanilla- flavored hard sauce from Fanny Farmer cookbook. I took the "bowls or tins" to mean these were to be in single serving-size dishes. I did that, but it made for quite a lot more work than putting it in a larger mold. My only problem with this recipe taste-wise was the bitterness that came through from the candied peel. (Used store- bought, but not sure fresh candied peel would have made much difference, as it can be bitter, too.) I think next time I might try the Joy of Cooking recipe, which has the optional addition of using chopped dates but no candied peel.

• emilyroserader

• Berkeley, CA

• 12/26/2010

I make my own plum pudding every year because I am gluten intolerant and have to use gluten free breadcrumbs. I'm an old hand at doing this and my plum puddings are a highlight of our holiday meal. But we moved a couple months ago and I couldn't find my recipe. So I tried this one. I always make a few mini puddings because the two pudding molds I have always leave me with more pudding than fits. So I steamed them all yesterday and we dug into the minis last night. I have to say this was the best plum pudding I've ever maade. I made an adjustment in that I used light butter instead of suet--I got the Trader Joe's brand in a tub. It was fabulous and the best part was that we didn't lose any flavor but we lost that "ugh" feeling you get 20 minutes after you've eaten it. Amazing. And instead of using candied peel I chopped up some candied ginger. It was beautiful.

• Sojo

• Glendale, CA

• 12/12/2010

So, being a proud and unabashed fruitcake lover, decided to give this a go. I made a Christmas pudding over 20 years ago and wanted to see if I could do it again. Made this for a port tasting and dinner with a group of friends - the recipe was plenty for two 6 inch molds (one for the dinner and one for my family) and 5 pint jars gifts for like minded fruit cake lovers. Added some dates, figs, dried tart and sweet cherries as well as some prunes. Got the dried fruit from www.nutsonline.com - the fruit came less than 24 hours after ordering and even the citron was tasty. Added some cointreau and butter as suggested - also added a quarter cup of ginja (Portuguese cherry liquor) and a little port along with the brandy. Ground the suet in the food processor with some flour as suggested and kept it very cold (froze it in the great outdoor freezer). It turned out great - flamed it, turned off the lights to get the full Christmas Carol effect. Served it with brandied hard sauce from Fanny Farmer - it was lovely and went great with the various ports (white, ruby, tawny, LBV or vintage - all worked well). Looking to forward to how it tastes after being fed brandy for a couple of weeks (may even keep one longer to see how it works out).

• Carolinka

• Pennsylvania

• 12/5/2010