The Pudding Club
Cabbage pudding (pictured above)
Makes 1 pudding in a 17cm basin (mould)
Serves 4-6
1 small savoy cabbage (winter cabbage)
450g minced (ground) veal or pork
150g shredded suet
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground mace
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 tsp apple cider vinegar, if using cranberries
20g barberries (if you can’t get barberries, use cranberries)
red currant compote or extra berries, for serving
Take off the largest and most beautiful outer leaves of the cabbage, rinse them and set aside to wrap the pudding later. Finely shred and blanch 50g of the remaining cabbage.
Put the meat in a large bowl with the suet and the spices. Pour in the egg yolks, the apple cider vinegar, if using, and the barberries or cranberries and combine by stirring with a wooden spoon. Fold the blanched cabbage in with the meat until you get a texture as for a meat loaf.
Prepare a lightly greased pudding basin by lining it with plastic wrap. Line the basin with most of the reserved cabbage leaves, then add the meat mixture and top it off with a few more cabbage leaves. Prepare the pudding for steaming (see below), and steam for 1½ hours. Alternatively, make a roly-poly by rolling up a layer of meat mixture with the cabbage leaves.
Serve the pudding turned out on a plate, decorated with some red currant compote or fresh berries. The red colour will be very pretty with the green of the cabbage leaves.
STEAMING A PUDDING USING A PUDDING BASIN
Preparing the basinGenerously grease the pudding basin (mould) with butter and cut a circle of baking paper the same size as the base of the pudding basin. Place the paper circle in the basin; it will stick perfectly to the butter. This will make it easier to get the pudding out of the basin.
Spoon the batter into the pudding basin, then cut another two circles of baking paper with a diameter about 8-10cm larger than the top of the basin. Make a narrow fold across the middle to leave room for the paper cover to expand slightly. I like to use two layers of paper. Tie securely around the top of the basin with kitchen string, then cover with foil and tie kitchen string to create a handle so it will be easier to lift the basin out of the pan after steaming.
Now get yourself a pan large enough to hold your pudding basin. I prefer to use the oven for this as I do not like to have a pot of boiling water on the stove top for 2 hours or more, depending on the recipe.
Preheat the oven to 160C/315F or the temperature suggested in the recipe.
Stand the pudding basin on an inverted heatproof saucer, a jam-jar lid or trivet in the base of a deep ovenproof saucepan or pot.
Pour in boiling water to come halfway up the side of the basin. Cover the pan, either with its own lid or with foil, in order to trap the steam. Place in the preheated oven and leave for as long as your recipe states. This can be between 30 minutes and 7 hours depending on the size of your pudding.
Unmoulding a pudding
Carefully remove the pudding from the pot while it is still in the oven. Have a tea towel (dish towel) at the ready to hold it safely and catch all the hot water that will drip from it. Leave the pudding to rest for a couple of minutes, so that it will cool off a bit and be easier to handle.
Have a plate ready. Remove the foil and string, then open the paper lid and turn the pudding out by carefully loosening it around the edges with a blunt knife.
Prune tart
Makes a 22-25cm tart
450g prunes
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 rosemary sprig
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 quantity shortcrust pastry (see below), doubling the recipe if you want to make a lattice lid
1 egg yolk, for egg washing
If the prunes have stones, remove them and try to remove some of the kernels using a nutcracker. The stones are hard to crack so never mind if you can’t get them out. Soak the prunes in water overnight with the lemon juice, cinnamon and rosemary.
Strain the prunes and reserve 250ml of the soaking water. In a medium saucepan, bring the prunes and reserved water to a simmer over low heat with the brown sugar. Simmer for about 30-45 minutes or until the liquid has reduced and is as thick as jam.
Allow the prunes to cool, then purée them in a blender or food processor. If the purée is too runny at this point, you can put it back in the saucepan over a low heat to reduce it a bit further. If you do this, let it cool again before further use. It will become more solid when it has cooled. The consistency should be very thick, not runny; when stirring through the prunes, the base of the saucepan should be visible.
Preheat the oven to 160C/315F.
While the prune purée cools completely, make the shortcrust pastry case as instructed (see right). If you plan to make a lid, cut the dough in half and return the second half to the fridge until ready to make the lid.
Pat the pastry down on a lightly floured work surface using a rolling pin and then start rolling. If the pastry cracks, knead it a bit to make it more elastic, then shape it into a ball and roll out to about 2mm thickness.
Gently turn the pastry over the tart tin or pie plate and allow it to sink in. Trim off the excess pastry.
If you are not using a pastry lid or lattice top, you may blind bake the pastry for 25 minutes, and then fill it with the prunes.
When ready to fill, spread the prune purée into the pastry casing and then egg wash the rim to attach the lid, if you are making one.
Roll out the remaining pastry and cut a round the same size as the pie plate or tart tin. With the pastry laid on baking paper, you can cut out fancy shapes or make ribbons for a lattice top if you prefer.
Carefully, yet swiftly, lift the pastry lid off the baking paper, laying it over the tart. Trim off any excess pastry when needed, then crimp the edges either with your fingers, or with a pastry jigger or stamp.
Bake the tart in the middle of the oven for 40-50 minutes or until it is nicely golden brown. If you have not added a lid, bake it for 20-25 minutes only. Let the tart cool completely before serving.
SHORTCRUST PASTRY
Makes enough for one 10-22cm tart, with a little left over
a pinch of saffron threads
1 tbsp cold water
100g cold butter
180g plain flour
20g icing sugar
tiny pinch salt
1 egg yolk
Soak the saffron in the water so it can give off its colour. Cut the butter into small pieces.
Put the flour into a food processor and add the butter, sugar and salt. Pulse for 8 seconds until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. To mix by hand, simply use a blunt knife, cutting the knife through the butter and flour to work them together.
Add the saffron water and egg yolk and pulse until you get big lumps, then turn the pastry onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly until smooth.
Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until you are ready to use it.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead and press the dough into a flat disc, then roll it out to a circle larger than the base of the tart tin.
Place the pastry over the tart tin and let it sink in, pushing it nicely into the corners, then cut off the excess pastry and prick the pastry with a fork, making sure you don’t pierce through it.
To blind bake, preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line the pastry with baking paper and weigh it down with baking beads, rice or dried beans. Bake for 25 minutes, remove the weights, then fill and bake at the required temperature.
Pride And Pudding, by Regula Ysewijn, is published by Murdoch Books, priced £20.