Steamed Pudding Recipes

By Sandra Kocher
Published on November 1, 1986
article image
PHOTO: GRANT PETERSON
Plum (left) and cranberry (right) puddings can be served with an array of garnishes and sauces

Steamed puddings: discover a classic cooking method and make some delicious holiday recipes.

Seasonal Steamed Pudding Recipes

Winter holidays wouldn’t be quite the same for some people without plum pudding. Many others, though, have never tried this traditional dish, and don’t realize that it contains raisins, not plums, and that it’s not a soft custard, but is closer to bread or cake, often topped with a sweet sauce. If this time-honored English holiday dessert has never graced your table, now’s the time to try it with our steamed pudding recipes. (After all, you don’t need an oven to make these scrumptious steamed dishes, which means that they are ideal candidates for cooking on woodstoves or even over campfires.)

Molds for steamed puddings can be fancy or plain. There are, for example, circular and melon-shaped fluted molds made of tin or aluminum with fitted lids. These range from 3-cup to 2-quart capacities. (Beware of any sharp edges or very narrow flutes; they’re no fun to clean!)

Among the simpler molds are tin cans, preferably those opened with a key, so the tin lids can be reused. Or use ordinary cans (lined ones, if possible), and fashion covers by bending aluminum foil tightly down over the rims. (Brown or waxed paper fitted over the top of a mold and tied down with a string was the solution in your grandmother’s day.)

No matter what dish you’re steaming (including the familiar Boston brown bread), the basic method is the same.

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