Recipe: Clootie Pudding, Burns Night 2016

Burns night 2016 has been very successful.

This recipe is the one I have used to produce a Clootie pudding, although it’s not one of mine it’s one that will now enter my repertoire as the results where outstanding.

Please note rather than using the muslin I poured the mix into a tray, covered with cling film and steamed it, then it was finished in the oven as per the method.

This recipe may need to sit around for a while but be sure to pull it out for next year.

 

Ingredients

225g (8oz) plain flour, plus 25g (1oz) for sprinkling

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

¼tsp sea salt

175g/6oz caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling

100g/4oz shredded suet

100g/4oz sultanas

75g/3oz currants

75g/3oz chopped stoned dates

50g/2oz Muscatel raisins

1 apple or carrot, coarsely grated

1 tbsp black treacle

1 medium farm-fresh egg

150ml/5fl oz buttermilk

225g/8oz clotted cream

Method

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt into a bowl and stir

in the sugar, suet, dried fruits, and the grated carrot or apple.

Mix the black treacle with the egg and some of the buttermilk and mix

into the dry ingredients to give soft mixture with a cake-like dropping

consistency.

Dip a large piece of muslin, an old pillowcase, a pudding cloth or a

tea towel into boiling water, remove it and squeeze out the excess

water. Lay it out on a surface and sprinkle a 30cm/12in circle in the

centre with the 25g/1oz of flour and the 1 tbsp of caster sugar. Spoon

pudding mixture on top and tie securely with string, leaving a little

room for the pudding to expand.

Rest a large heatproof trivet or container in the base of a large pan

so that the pudding is not in direct contact with the heat. Place the

pudding on the trivet/container, knotted side up. Pour in enough

water almost to cover the pudding, cover with a tight-fitting lid and

simmer gently for 3-4 hours. Take a peek every now and then and

then to check the water level and top it up if necessary.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Lift the pudding out of the

pan and dip it briefly in a bowl of cold water (to ensure that the

outside of the pudding does not stick to an ovenproof serving plate).

Then remove remove the muslin and bake until ready, be sure not to dry it out.

Food from my past.

These dishes are ones i developed whilst working in a small local Restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne.

During my time at the Restaurant i used local produce from passionate suppliers, simple food cooked well.

The rose petal crumb on the top lamb dish is amazing, further down is a pistachio shot again out of this world, some time soon i will post the recipes for you to try and enjoy!