Boiled Pudding

Ingredients

• 6 oz flour
• 6 oz stale bread crumbs
• 0.75 lb raisins, seeded and cut in pieces
• 0.75 lb currants
• 0.75 lb suet, finely chopped
• 10 oz sugar
• 1 cup molasses
• 3 oz candied orange peel, finely cut
• 1 tsp nutmeg, grated
• 1 tsp mace
• 6 eggs, well beaten
• 2 tsp salt

Method

Combine flour, breadcrumbs, raisins, currants, suet, sugar, molasses, candied peel, nutmeg, mace, eggs, and salt in a large bowl. The order of addition doesn't matter — this is a dense batter that relies on the eggs as binding agent and the suet as both fat and structural suspension. Mix thoroughly until the dried fruit is evenly distributed; uneven pockets of fruit will cook unevenly and create burnt spots where the sugars concentrate.

Dust a square of unbleached cotton cloth generously with flour — about 170g total, working it into the weave so it forms a non-stick barrier. Spoon the mixture into the centre and gather the corners, tying them firmly with string. Leave enough slack (roughly 5cm) between the knot and the pudding itself; the mixture expands during steamed-pudding, and binding it too tightly will burst the cloth or compress the crumb into a dense, gluey mass. The flour coating prevents the pudding from absorbing water and tearing the cloth.

Fill a large pot with water deep enough that the pudding will be fully submerged with at least 5cm clearance above it. Bring to a rolling boil — essential, because the sustained agitation keeps the pudding from settling and developing a dense base. Lower the pudding in carefully, keeping it submerged throughout the five-hour cook. Top up with boiling water every 45 minutes; evaporation is relentless and a partially exposed pudding will dry out on the exposed side and cook unevenly. The suet melts into the crumb structure, keeping it moist and tender; without constant immersion, you'll get a split skin and a desiccated interior.

After five hours, lift the pudding from the water using a slotted spoon or cloth sling. Let it rest for three minutes on a plate to drain, then carefully unknot the cloth and slide the pudding onto a warm serving plate. The surface will be slightly sticky and dimpled from steam contact — this is correct. Serve at once with hard sauce or a warm liquid sauce spooned over the top. The dried-fruit will have softened completely, the molasses will have darkened the crumb to near-black, and the suet will have rendered into the dough, giving you a pudding that's neither cake nor custard but something denser and richer than both.