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Raisin Pudding, Baked
Shred finely six ounces of beef suet. Mix with this three-quarters of a pound of flour, a pinch of salt, the rind of a fresh lemon cut very small, three-quarters of a pound of stoned raisins, and half a tea-spoonful of grated nutmeg. Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly, and stir in with them three eggs and as much milk as will make a thick batter. This will be about a quarter of a pint. Pour the mixture into a buttered mould, and bake in a well-heated oven. Turn it out, sift powdered sugar over it, and it will be ready for serving. Time to bake, one hour and a quarter. Probable cost, 1s. 6d. Sufficient for four or five persons.
A plain suet pudding baked rather than boiled, which gives it a browned crust instead of a wet cloth skin. The measurements convert cleanly; the liquid is the only figure worth questioning.
- Weights in cupsThree-quarters of a pound of flour is about 2 3/4 cups; three-quarters of a pound of stoned raisins is roughly 2 1/4 cups. Six ounces of suet is a generous cup once shredded.
- A quarter of a pintIn an English book of this period that is 5 fl oz, one gill, not the 4 oz American half-pint quarter. Five ounces of milk with three eggs against 12 oz of flour makes a very stiff mixture by modern expectations; if it will not drop heavily from the spoon, add milk a spoonful at a time.
- "A well-heated oven"Read this as 375-400F. Higher and the suet renders out before the centre sets; the pudding wants to be hot enough to brown but slow enough to cook through in the stated hour and a quarter.
- SuetBeef suet is the hard kidney fat, sold shredded in packets in Britain and available frozen or from a butcher elsewhere. Chill it hard and grate it on the coarse side of a box grater rather than chopping. Vegetable suet works and behaves almost identically; butter does not, as it melts too early and the crumb turns dense.
- Stoned raisinsRaisins were commonly sold with the seeds in and had to be pitted by hand. Any modern seedless raisin is already "stoned." Muscatels are the closest to what was meant.
- The mouldA 1.5 to 2 quart pudding basin, charlotte mould or deep cake tin, buttered heavily and ideally floured. Fill it no more than three-quarters full. Let it stand five to ten minutes before turning out or the shape will slump.
- DonenessAn hour and a quarter is right for a mould of this size, but test with a skewer to the centre; suet puddings look set well before the middle is cooked. If the top colours too fast, lay foil over it.
- ServingFour to five, as stated. A pouring custard or plain cream is a usual period accompaniment; the pudding itself is lean on sugar.
Suet puddings of this kind were the backbone of British domestic cookery for most of the nineteenth century, cheap, filling and endlessly variable according to what dried fruit the house had in. What distinguishes this one is that it is baked in a mould rather than boiled in a cloth or steamed in a basin, a method that became easier once closed ranges with reliable ovens replaced open hearths. The costing of 1s. 6d. is characteristic of Cassell's, which gives a probable cost for nearly every dish; raisins were an imported luxury that had come within reach of a modest household, which is why a pudding with three-quarters of a pound of them could be presented as everyday fare rather than a treat.