Plum Pudding Without Eggs

Ingredients

• 1 cup beef suet, finely chopped
• 2 cups fine bread crumbs
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 cup raisins, chopped
• 1 cup currants, well washed
• 1 spoon salt
• 1 tsp cloves, ground
• 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
• 1 tsp allspice, ground
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 cup milk
• as needed flour

Method

Suet is your binding agent here, replacing eggs entirely. The fat coats the breadcrumbs and holds the dried fruit in suspension during the long steam, while the bicarbonate of soda — activated by the milk — provides the lift that eggs normally deliver through their proteins. This is a pudding built on fat chemistry, not emulsion.

Combine the suet, breadcrumbs, molasses, raisins, currants, salt, and ground spices in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly so the fat is evenly distributed; the suet should look like fine sand clinging to the breadcrumbs. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the milk — you'll see it foam slightly — then pour it into the dry mixture. Stir until you have a stiff batter. Add flour only as needed to reach the consistency of thick porridge; too much tightens the crumb and makes the pudding dense and claggy. You're aiming for something that barely holds its shape on a spoon.

Butter a pudding mould or ceramic bowl (at least 1.5 litres) and press the batter into it. Cover tightly with buttered greaseproof paper, then secure foil over the top with string, or use the mould's lid if it has one. The seal matters: steam that escapes means the pudding stays dense instead of becoming light and open-crumbed. steaming|Steam the pudding in a large pot half-filled with boiling water for four to five hours. The pudding is ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the top is firm to the touch — not tacky. Top up the water level with boiling water every hour; the pot should never fall below a simmer, or the heat will drop and the pudding will cook unevenly.

Turn the pudding out onto a warm plate while still hot, as it firms up as it cools and becomes difficult to remove. Serve immediately with a sharp wine sauce or a hot custard to cut the richness of the suet. The pudding will keep, wrapped and cooled, for up to three weeks; rewarm it by pudding|steaming for forty-five minutes before serving.