Teacup Pudding

A boiled or steamed suet pudding given in the shorthand of a household that already knew the method: everything measured by the same teacup, and the cook expected to know it goes into a buttered mould over water. The points below fill in the gaps.

• What a teacup means hereNineteenth-century teacups were not standardised; they ran from roughly 6 to 8 fl oz. The measurement is genuinely ambiguous. The four teacup ingredients stay in proportion to each other whichever size you pick, but the cream and brandy are fixed measures, so a larger cup will give a drier mixture. Choose one cup and use it throughout.
• Gill and wine glassA gill is half a cup (4 fl oz) of cream. A wine glass in this period is reckoned at about 2 fl oz, so the brandy is a generous but not overwhelming quarter cup.
• Grated breadThis means fresh crumbs grated from a stale, close-textured loaf, not dried crumbs from a canister. Dry packaged crumbs will absorb far more liquid and give a heavy, pasty pudding.
• SuetBeef kidney suet, shredded fine and chilled. Butchers will often supply it on request; shredded packaged suet is sold in some shops. Frozen grated butter can stand in, though the texture will be softer and less open.
• The missing methodCombine everything, pack into a well-buttered pudding basin or mould filled about three-quarters, cover tightly with buttered paper and foil or a floured cloth, and steam over simmering water for roughly two to two and a half hours until firm and set through. The water must never be allowed to boil dry.
• Spice and sugar to tastePuddings of this type were commonly spiced with nutmeg, and often mace, cinnamon or a little clove, though the recipe names none. Something in the region of half a cup of sugar suits this quantity; the raisins and apples supply a good deal on their own.
• Yield and servingProbably six servings. It wants a sauce: hard sauce beaten with brandy, or a thin wine sauce, of the kind commonly served with such puddings.