Steamed Fig Pudding
Steamed Fig Pudding
Steve Lister
Steamed puddings are traditional English (and other European) desserts, pudding generally meaning a dessert. However, they can be savoury puddings too, made with all sorts of ingredients and 100?s of savoury recipes exist. They are made by steaming the cake like mix, using many different methods like a bain-marie/double boiler, simmering in a pan of water on top of a stove, in an oven, in a microwave oven or even in a pressure cooker. Here I have baked them into individual portions using small ramekins, you can make one large pudding, it will need to be steamed for approximately 2 ? to 3 hours.
This recipe makes about 8 tennis ball sized individual puddings.
Ingredients
400 gm. self raising flour
200 gm. suet* (vegetarian one)
100 gm. dark sugar (use any variety you have)
100 ml. of ice cold water
500 gm. pre-soaked dry figs (I soaked mine in brandy for 4-5 weeks). See Fig Brandy Liquor
Butter for greasing the cooking tins
To serve
Custard or single cream or ice-cream
Instructions
Remove stalk from figs, if they have any, chop roughly and then pur?e in a food processor. Chop off the top/stalk part off first as they can be a little hard and difficult to chop in a food processor. Keep aside.
Combine flour, sugar and suet using a food mixer until it looks crumbly.
Add pur?ed figs and mix the whole lot together in the blender.
Add the water, a little at a time, until you get a soft, slightly wet "dough" like mix.
Butter the ramekins well.
Fill each one leaving them slightly shy of the top, as it will expand during cooking.
Cover each ramekin loosely with a piece of aluminium foil and steam in a steamer for 45 minutes. You can place them on a trivet in a pressure cooker and cook them without the pressure.
Serve with custard/cream/ice-cream.
Notes
I think that adding a couple of tablespoons of golden syrup to the mix would enhance the flavour even more but I haven't tried it yet.
*Suet is solidified beef /mutton fat. It has a high melting point, which is why it is used for pudding and pastry making. It helps to keep the structure of the pudding, giving a light pastry. In UK, a vegetarian alternative is available. Fats like grated chilled/solidified palm oil or frozen butter can be used as an alternative.
