This was the first time I’ve ever made a steamed pudding or a Christmas pudding in my whole life and it came out wonderfully!
Making do with a dessert bowl, some parchment paper, some foil and some string and a big pot, I produced a nice looking and tasting ( a little bit crumbled off and of course went straight in my gob for testing purposes) wartime eggless Christmas pudding using an old recipe, modified slightly, from the Ministry of Food in the 1940s. This is suitable for vegans..
All that is now left to do is feed it some whiskey and set it on fire on Christmas day
Eggless Christmas Pudding
- 2 oz plain flour
- 4 oz breadcrumbs (about 6 slices)
- 4 oz melted fat or suet (I used margarine suitable for vegans)
- 1 oz marmalade
- 1 lb of mixed dried fruit
- 3 oz sugar (I used brown)
- 1/4 pint of brandy, rum, ale, stout or milk (I used hemp milk and will feed it with alcohol afterwards)
- 0.5 teaspoon of baking powder
- 0.25 teaspoon salt
- 0.5 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
- 0.5 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of mixed or all spice
Method
- Sift the flour, baking powder, spices and salt together
- Add the sugar, dried fruit and breadcrumbs and mix
- Melt that fat if using margarine and drizzle over and mix
- Add the marmalade and 1/4 pint of liquid and mix very thoroughly
- Put in a greased 2 pint basin (I used a large deep dessert bowl)
- Cover with greased paper and foil and steam for 4 hours- click here
- Remove basin and let pudding stand for 15 minutes to cool a little before removing from basin
- Leave to cool, wrap in clean paper or cloth and store in a cool pantry or fridge. Will keep for a month.
- Steam for an hour before serving or microwave in original container for 2-3 minutes
Vegans: Use hemp, rice, soy or nut milk instead of dairy, a lactose free/ dairy/animal fat free margarine..
It loves very tasty!!! Now isn’t there a hard sauce that you serve over it? I remember my Mom doing it once, that way.
Hooray! It looks beautiful.
I’ve always wondered about how long Christmas puddings or cakes keep, if you add no alcohol at all. Does anyone know?
This one would keep a month or so in the fridge (wrapped) without alcohol xxx I
Hi thought you might like to try the Scottish equivalent to Christmas Pudding, this is a “Wartime Clootie Dumpling” (not authentic due to rationing), but still yummy, which is a steamed fruit cake or pudding (with charms or money inside) traditionally served at Hogmany (New Year’s Eve), birthdays or sliced and fried with a full Scottish breakfast (double yummy !), just a bit more special than the fruit pudding normally served with breakfast.
Mix the following together:
1/2 cup shredded suet (or even lard, oil or butter)
1 cup warmed treacle (or half’n’half treacle & golden syrup)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or sour milk)
1/2 cup marmalade (or apricot jam)
4 tsp of Christmas spices (your preference)
1 1/2 cups brown bread crumbs (or white, whatever is available)
1 1/2 cups dried fruits (any mix available)
1 cup self raising flour (or 1 cup plain flour with 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda)
Pile into a steam pudding mold and steam on the stove top for 2 1/2 -3 hours. I use the slow cooker method, which gives a bit more leeway to cooking times, if leaving to cook overnight or during the working day on the lowest setting.
Yum I made one of those on “Stirup Sunday” (last sunday before Advent), they are not bad at all!
Got to thry this!
Hassle-free steaming in slo-cooker!
I have used this method for years after watching Ruth Mott on both “The Victorian Kitchen Garden” and “The Wartime Kitchen Garden” BBC TV shows where she demonstrated the “Hay Box” cooking method. Costs little in energy and time (as most were cooked overnight or during the day whilst busy elsewhere) so it saves on fuel, money, time, etc – so, couldn’t be more green than that !
This method of cooking is hassle free, cheap and very forgiving when it comes to timing (even an extra hour or so is fine on a low setting) it will cook all sorts of things such as soda bread, cakes, sponge and suet puddings (both sweet and savoury), soups, stews, polenta, semolina, porridge – the list is extensive.
I have a large slow cooker (actually I have 3) & a plastic microwave lidded dishes (I think they are actually for cooking rice in the microwave) that fits nicely inside my slow cooker, I also use old fashioned pudding steamers. I put a small metal tea pot stand in the slow cooker, place the filled dish onto it then top up to about 3/4 up the sides of the filled dish with hot water. to about. It really is that simple. I cook all sorts of things this way as it can be left to happily cook on low without the fear of burning.
Sounds delish, will be making this in the next few days. Love the idea of steaming in the slow cooker. OH, BTW I have been so inspired by your blog Carolyn I am getting The Victory Cookbook in my Christmas Stocking!
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Can this be steamed in pressure cooker to reduce cooking time?
I don’t use a pressure cooker myself (I prefer the slow cooker method due to cost, ease of use and the time benefits) but my auntie Mary used her’s daily. This how she cooked a steam pudding. Good luck with this.
Pour the mixture into your prepared basin, filling only three-quarters to allow room to rise. Take a double square of greaseproof paper, large enough to hang over the rim of the basin by a few cm’s, and fold a pleat into it. Butter the underside and secure the paper with a long piece of string under the rim. Loop the string over the basin and tie on the opposite side to make a handle. Put the basin into the steamer, cover the pressure cooker without clamping the lid closed and steam for 15 minutes. This is essential to allow the sponge to rise. Now clamp on the lid. Bring up to full pressure, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and vent immediately. Remove the basin using the handle. Run a knife around the inside of the basin and turn out on to a plate.