DEODORIZING MICROWAVE

The Fangs of Suet Pudding

The Fangs of Suet Pudding may be the most unusual book you read this year. It was written during WWII by "Adams Farr" who may or may not be the narrator of the tale, a teenage girl. Through her eyes we see what it was like to live in France when the Germans were marching through at the beginning of the war. But Loreley is no ordinary girl and the adventures she encounters when she allows a thief in the night to share her bedroom are not like any other war story you've ever heard. Although she has nothing in common with Lisbeth Salander, the super-girl from Stieg Larsson's popular thrillers of 2011, she has as much gumption and charming wiles as Lisbeth. And she can tell a story better than almost anyone writing today. Your library of oddities will not be complete until you have a brand-new edition of this very obscure and hard-to-find book in it. Chris Mikul introduces it and Gavin L. O'Keefe provides the cover art. It's a book you won't forget for a long time.

April 2010 Daring Baker's Challenge: Traditional British Pudding by Esther from The Lilac Kitchen!

“The easiest way to steam a pudding is in a dedicated steamer as the water is kept away from the pudding so it can’t boil over. If, however, you don’t have a steamer use a pan large enough to easily fit the bowl you are cooking. Don’t fill the water more than about a third of the way up the bowl or it may boil over and into the bowl. Keep an eye and top up as needed with boiling water.

You need to lift the bowl off the bottom of the pan. This can be done with a steamer stand, an upturned plate or even crumpled up kitchen foil — anything that can stand being in boiling water and lifts the bowl off the bottom of the pan will work.

Make sure you have a well-fitted lid on the pan as you want the steam to cook the pudding not to boil off.

Make sure you put a pleat in the foil or paper you cover the bowl with to allow for expansion and then tie down tightly with string.”

Preparation time:
Preparation time is 5 to 20 minutes depending on the filling. Cooking time is 1 to 5 hours so do this on a day you have jobs around the house to do or are popping in and out as you need to occasionally check the pan hasn’t boiled dry! However it is otherwise a very low time requirement dish.


Equipment required:
2 pint (1 litre) pudding bowl or steam-able containers to contain a similar amount they should be higher rather than wide and low

Steamer or large pan, ideally with a steaming stand, upturned plate or crumpled up piece of kitchen foil

Mixing bowl

Spoon

Measuring cups or scales

Foil or grease proof paper to cover the bowl

String


Ingredients for the pudding:
(100 grams/4 ounces) All-purpose flour
(1/4 teaspoon) salt
(1.5 teaspoons) Baking powder
(100 grams/4 ounces) breadcrumbs
(75 grams/3 ounces) Caster sugar
(75 grams/ 3 ounces) Shredded suet or suet substitute (i.e., Vegetable Suet, Crisco, Lard)
Finely grated zest of an orange
(1) large egg
(6 to 8 tablespoons) Cold milk
Butter for greasing the basin
2 heaped tablespoons of golden syrup

Method for the pudding:
1. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into bowl.
2. Add breadcrumbs, sugar, suet and orange zest.
3. Mix to a soft batter with beaten egg and milk
4. Butter a 1 litre/2 pint pudding basin thoroughly
5. Put the golden syrup into the bottom of the basin
6. Turn the mixture into the basin and cover securely with buttered greaseproof paper or aluminum foil.
7. Steam steadily for 2.5 to 3 hours
8. Turn out onto warm plate, spoon over the warmed syrup mixture and serve with creme anglais.

Pudding recipe from Esther from The Lilac Kitchen.


Ingredients for the syrup:
4 tablespoons of golden syrup
Juice of half an orange
Glug of cointreau

Method for the syrup:
Heat all the ingredients in a saucepan gently until warmed then spoon over the pudding.

Syrup recipe from Princess Lottie.


Ingredients for the creme anglais:
3 egg yolks
55g caster sugar
? vanilla pod, split lengthways
250ml milk
250ml double cream

Method for the creme anglais:
1. Lightly whisk the egg yolks and sugar together.
2. Place the milk and cream into a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add the seeds and the pod to the mixture. Bring almost to the boil. Whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, then return to a clean saucepan over medium heat.
3. Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Do not let it boil.
4. Strain through a fine sieve, allow to cool to room temperature with cling film placed directly onto the surface of the mixture. This prevents a skin forming.
5. Once cooled, refrigerate until cold and if you like, you can reheat gently just before serving.

Creme anglais recipe from Philip Johnson.

When ML saw the suet pudding on the menu, she was highly excited. So excited that she shared the innards of her meal with me.

This 2 litre Steam Pudding Mold has a finger-sized handle on the top center. Has decorative ribbed sides and bottom. Has a central tube (like an angel food cake pan) that provides more even heat distribution, cooking your pudding more evenly.

A pudding requires the proper pan and this mold, 7-3/8 inches in diameter and 5 inches high, meets all the requirements for steaming a plum or other pudding so that it comes out firm, moist, and perfectly shaped. With a capacity of 2 liters (8-1/2 cups), this Patisse tin-plated steel mold is large enough to prepare a family-size or party-size treat. Its capped, central tube ensures thorough cooking, its fluted sides create the traditional decorative touch, and its lid snaps securely into place so the pudding is protected from invasion by water and steam. Hand wash this pudding mold in soapy water. --Fred Brack