The forecast is for east winds – and I’m in the mood for heartwarming food. Anyway, February just has to be the perfect month for eating pudding. I don’t mean just any generic pudding, but a proper, steaming, traditional British beauty. For anyone who doesn’t have an instant mental picture of their favourite pudding – let me give you a little taster.
Sussex Pond
I love everything about this pudding from its wonderfully evocative name to its delicious lemony sauce which oozes onto the plate with the first cut. As the name suggests it’s a traditional English pudding from the South East county of Sussex. It consists of a suet pastry which encases a whole lemon, with butter and sugar, boiled or steamed for several hours.
Treacle Suet Pudding
This is one of my all-time favourite puddings. I haven’t had it for years because it is time consuming and so, so indulgent. The last time I had the pleasure was when a friend living in France made it to show off English cuisine to the local vet. She proudly brought it out into the garden but as she sat down the whole thing slipped off the plate onto her lap. We all ate it anyway and it was deemed ‘a bit strange’ by our Gallic friends.
Spotted Dick
You may have had one of these from one of these:
and actually, they’re not bad but it is a real treat to share one like this at the end of a meal.
With home-made custard of course. By the way some people call this pudding Spotted Richard to avoid any embarrassment to sensitive souls.
Fruit Hat
This romantic name is given to any suet crust filled with fruit – in this case it is bramley apples and blackberries – a very traditional duo.
Jam Roly Poly
Another real British classic this. The same suet pastry is rolled out in a sheet and brushed with warm jam, rolled up and steamed. Delicious.
Black Cap Pudding
This is a sponge based pudding – quicker to make and quicker to cook. The name black cap is obvious when you see the finished article and can be achieved with a jam or fruit topping as an alternative to raisins.
Christmas Pudding
Of course, the ultimate pudding is plum pudding, better known as Christmas pudding. But we’ll keep that under wraps for several months to come. Meanwhile why not try and make a proper pudding at home sometime this month, it’s good to keep traditional recipes alive and, come March, we’ll all be thinking of lighter springtime treats.
Subscribe to our blog
