Date Pudding

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp butter
• 0.5 cup molasses
• 0.5 cup milk
• 1.67 cup flour
• 0.5 tsp soda
• 0.25 tsp salt
• 0.25 tsp clove
• 0.25 tsp allspice
• 0.25 tsp nutmeg
• 0.5 lb dates, stoned and cut in pieces

Method

Steaming is the control here. The pudding needs moisture and gentle, even heat — direct oven temperature will dry the exterior before the crumb sets properly. You're building a dense, moist cake structure that depends on steam circulation, not dry air.

Cream the butter and molasses together until the mixture is pale and slightly aerated — roughly two minutes of vigorous beating. This incorporates air that will expand during steaming and lighten the dense batter. Warm the milk to blood temperature (roughly 37°C) and add it slowly to the wet mixture, stirring constantly to emulsify. If you dump it in cold, the fat will separate and you'll lose the binding structure that keeps the pudding tender.

Sift the flour with the bicarbonate of soda, salt, and spices — clove, allspice, nutmeg. The soda is your leavening agent here, reacting with the molasses's acidity to produce carbon dioxide. Sifting distributes it evenly and prevents dense pockets. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture in two additions, combining just until no flour streaks remain. Overmixing develops gluten, which tightens the crumb and fights the tender texture pudding demands. Fold in the stoned dates last.

Transfer the batter to a buttered 1-litre pudding mould — a ceramic basin works best, though a pound tin will suffice. Cover the mould tightly with buttered parchment, then foil, sealing the edges so steam cannot escape uncontrolled. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, place the mould on a trivet or folded cloth in the pot (this prevents direct contact with the hot base), and pour boiling water around it to come halfway up the sides. The water bath ensures even, humid heat. Steam for 90 minutes to 2 hours. The pudding is done when a skewer inserted into the centre emerges with no wet batter clinging to it — a few moist crumbs are fine.

Let the pudding rest in the mould for five minutes, then run a knife around the edges and invert it onto a warm plate. The dried-fruit will have softened and melded into the crumb; the spices will be warm and present without shouting. Serve immediately with wine sauce or hot custard.