Title: Our Family's Plum Pudding
2 c Currants, loosely packed
1 1/2 c Golden raisins
1 1/2 c Candied fruit peels
1/4 c Cognac
2 c English walnuts, finely chopped
2 c Good beef suet (1/2 pound) -- ground by butcher
1 c Sifted flour
1 ts Baking soda
1/2 ts Salt
1 ts Cinnamon
1/2 ts Mace
1/2 ts Nutmeg
1/2 c Blackberry jam or preserves
1 c Brown sugar
5 c Loosely packed fresh bread -crumbs -- from homemade-type bread
1/2 c Dry cocktail sherry
6 Egg yolks; well beaten
6 Egg whites; beaten stiff -- but not dry
FOR MOLDS:
3 to 4 tb. soft butter
Brown sugar or flour
Candied red cherries (opt.) -- for bottom of molds
Additional brandy or other -liquor -- for ripening pudding
HARD SAUCE:
1/2 c Butter; softened
2 1/2 c Sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tb Brandy
Few drops cream; if needed
GARNISH:
Holly sprigs
Candied fruit or angelica
Brandy
Combine the dried fruits and peels in a large bowl and sprinkle with cognac. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight (or longer - in which case you may want to add more cognac).
To the fruits in the large bowl, add nuts and suet.
Resift flour with the baking soda, salt and spices; then sift over the fruit mixture while tossing and mixing with a wooden spoon to evenly distribute the dry ingredients.
Stir in jam and brown sugar.
Prepare the bread crumbs (use the food processor, removing crusts first if they are crusty and hard).
Sprinkle bread crumbs into the sherry, mixing with a fork.
Add to the fruit mixture. Add the beaten egg yolks; mix thoroughly. Last, fold in beaten egg whites.
Prepare two pudding molds. This recipe makes enough for one 2-quart mold, and the remainder can be steamed in a coffee can - a 26-ounce can makes a round pudding about 3" tall. (You could make one huge pudding if you have a container.)
Grease molds with butter and then sprinkle them with sugar or dust with flour.
Arrange candied cherries in molds, if desired (cherries should be dusted with flour).
Fill 2-quart mold no more than 2/3 full with batter. Cover pudding mold with its lid, fasten with clamps or tie on securely.
For the coffee can, cover with its plastic lid, tie it on and wrap all with aluminum foil. (The plastic will split.)
For a bowl without a lid, cover the top with layered waxed paper tied down securely, then do the same with aluminum foil.
Place each pudding in its own steaming container on a rack placed over gently boiling water (see note). Cover each kettle with a tight-fitting lid and steam puddings - 7 hours for pudding in a 2-quart mold (6" tall, 7" across the top) filled 2/3 full; 6 hours for the smaller one. Check the water level every hour or so, replenishing with boiling water as needed.
When the pudding has finished steaming, uncover it and let it cool.
Remove the pudding from the mold, if it is metal, and sprinkle 2 tb. or so of brandy, sherry, rum or fruit juice over the pudding. Wrap it in clean, unbleached muslin, then wrap it in foil and store it in the refrigerator to ripen for at least three weeks.
Open from time to time and sprinkle judiciously with more liquor - or add it to the pudding cloth.
When ready to serve, return to the pudding mold and steam as before for 1 1/2 hours.
To serve:
Place hot pudding on a warmed platter. Place a sprig of holly in the center and decorate sparingly with candied fruit or angelica.
Carefully warm several tablespoons of brandy, and pour a bit at the rim of the platter. Ignite brandy with a long-stemmed match and carry flaming to the table. Serve with hard sauce and/or brandy-flavored whipped cream.
Yield: Each pudding serves 10 or more. Makes 5 pounds of pudding or more.
Note: The bottom of the pudding mold should be above the gently boiling water at all times so that the pudding is cooked by steam. It may take some ingenuity to find a way to raise the pudding above the water. Kluger wrote: "I steamed one pudding in a vegetable blancher, placing my canning funnel upside down in the perforated basket and placing the pudding mold on top of that. The second 'steamer' was contrived by placing a flat-bottomed colander upside down in the bottom of a hot-water-bath kettle. This made a nice platform for the pudding to stand on - about 2" above the bottom of the pan. Allow ample space between the pudding and the sides of the kettle so the steam can circulate."
Note: If you want to freeze one of the puddings, cool it after steaming. Wrap in moisture-vapor-proof freezer wrap and store at 0 F. for up to 1 year. When ready to eat, unwrap and thaw loosely covered in the refrigerator. Then return to the pudding mold and steam as directed above for serving.
To make hard sauce: Using the small bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add confectioners' sugar gradually, beating until mixture is creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the brandy. Press hard sauce through a pastry bag to form decorative shapes and decorate them with candied red cherry halves and green fruit peels. (If the mixture is too soft, place in refrigerator to stiffen.)
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