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Blackberry Pudding or Other Berries
M.
One and one-half pints sifted flour; put a little of this into one and one-half pints of fresh berries. To the balance of the flour add salt sufficient to season, one even teaspoon soda dissolved in one-half teacup of sweet milk, then fill the cup three-fourths full of syrup or molasses; stir all into a smooth batter; lastly add the berries; mix lightly so as not to break. Put into a buttered mould and place in boiling water that does not quite reach the top of the mould. Do not let it stop boiling for an instant. It must boil at least two hours. Serve with boiled sauce.
A steamed molasses pudding studded with berries, from the era when a covered mould in a pot of water did the work an oven does now. The whole recipe hinges on the water never coming off the boil.
- Never let it stop boilingThe instruction to keep it at a rolling boil for the full two hours is not fussiness. A steamed batter that cools mid-cook sinks and sets heavy, so keep a kettle of boiling water alongside and top up the pot as it evaporates, never with cold water.
- Pints of flour and berriesFlour and berries are measured by volume, not weight. One and one-half pints is three cups: roughly 12-13 oz of flour and about 3 cups of berries. Tossing a spoonful of the flour over the fruit keeps it suspended rather than sinking to the bottom of the mould.
- A teacupA nineteenth-century teacup in these books is generally taken as about 6 fl oz, smaller than a modern mug. Half a teacup of milk topped with syrup to three-quarters full gives you roughly 3 oz milk and 1.5 oz molasses.
- Sweet milk and soda"Sweet milk" simply means fresh milk, specified because sour milk was the other thing likely to be in the house. The single teaspoon of soda needs acid to raise it, and molasses or dark treacle supplies it; the recipe also allows plain syrup, but a neutral one such as golden or corn syrup gives the soda less to work against, so molasses is the safer choice.
- The mouldButter it well and fill no more than two-thirds. The recipe says nothing about a cover, relying instead on keeping the water below the rim; if you would rather not chance splashing, cover with a lid or buttered foil tied down.
- Water level"Does not quite reach the top of the mould" means the water comes up nearly to the rim but stops short of it. Set the mould on a trivet, a folded cloth or an upturned saucer so it is not in direct contact with the pan bottom.
- Boiled sauceThe recipe gives no formula. A boiled sauce of this period is generally a cooked pudding sauce: sugar, butter, and milk or water thickened over heat, often flavoured with vanilla, nutmeg or a spoonful of spirit. Hard sauce or plain cream also suit it.
- YieldUse a two-quart mould or larger so the batter sits no more than two-thirds up; serves about eight. Steamed puddings reheat well, so leftovers can be re-steamed for twenty minutes rather than microwaved to rubber.
Boiled and steamed puddings are among the older surviving forms of English-American home cookery, from a time before reliable ovens: a batter or dough tied in a cloth or sealed in a mould and hung over the fire needed nothing but a pot and a steady flame. This one belongs to the later, cheaper end of the tradition, leavened with soda and sweetened with molasses rather than the eggs and suet of a Christmas pudding, and built around whatever berries were ripe. The Home Cook Book (Chicago, first published 1874, with several later printings) was compiled from recipes contributed by local women and sold to raise funds for the Chicago Home for the Friendless; contributors were credited, which is why recipes carry initials like the "M." here, and the measures are given in the household terms of the day, teacups and pints.