Bangor Pudding

A thrifty New England steamed pudding built on cracker crumbs rather than flour or breadcrumbs. The eight-hour steam is the only figure that needs real scrutiny.

• The eight hoursA pudding of this size will likely set in around 2 1/2 to 3 hours of steady steaming; the long bath here produces a very dark, dense pudding rather than a lighter one, and may simply reflect the habits of all-day range cookery. If you want the original texture, keep the water at a bare simmer and be prepared to top it up every hour or so from a boiling kettle.
• Cracker crumbsNot saltines and not graham crackers. The intended article is most likely the New England common cracker or plain water biscuit, hard, unsweetened and barely salted. Crushed unsalted water crackers or plain oyster crackers give the closest result.
• "Moisten with boiling water"No quantity is given because the crackers should be damp and swollen, not soupy. Roughly 1/2 cup poured over 1 1/3 cups crumbs, then left until cool, gives a mixture that holds a shape on the spoon.
• The mouldThe mixture comes to well over a quart, so use a pudding basin or covered tin mould of about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts, well buttered and filled no more than two-thirds, since the crumbs swell. Cover with a buttered lid or a doubled sheet of foil tied down so condensation cannot drip in.
• Setting up the steamerStand the mould on a rack or folded cloth in a deep pot, with boiling water reaching halfway up the sides, and keep the lid on. Water at a rolling boil will jostle the mould and force water past the cover.
• MolassesOrdinary unsulphured molasses is right. Blackstrap is considerably more bitter and will dominate the pudding.
• Raisins"Seeded and cut in pieces" reflects raisins sold with seeds still in. Modern seedless raisins need only a rough chop, or none at all.
• Cream Sauce IIThe reference is to a sweet pudding sauce elsewhere in the book, not a savoury white sauce. Any thin vanilla custard or sweetened cream sauce serves the same purpose alongside the cold pudding.
• YieldAbout six modest servings. It slices best fully cold, as directed, and keeps several days refrigerated.