Three-in-one mix boiled pudding
SERVES 10 PREP AND COOK TIME 6 HOURS 45 MINUTES (+ STANDING AND COOLING TIME)
To boil the pudding, you will need a 60cm square of unbleached calico. If the calico has not been used before, soak it in cold water overnight. The next day, boil it for 20 minutes, then rinse in cold water. You will also need 2.5 metres of kitchen string. The pudding can also be steamed by following the Test Kitchen tips on the opposite page.
4¼ cups Three-In-One Basic Fruit Mix (see recipe, previous page) 185g butter, melted 2 eggs, beaten lightly 3 cups (210g) lightly packed stale breadcrumbs 1 cup (150g) plain flour, plus extra
1 Place basic fruit mix in a large bowl. Stir in butter, eggs, breadcrumbs and sifted flour. 2 Fill a boiler three-quarters full with hot water; cover, bring to the boil. 3 Have ready 2.5 metres of kitchen string and an extra ¾ cup (110g) plain flour. Wearing thick rubber gloves and using tongs, dip prepared pudding cloth into boiling water; boil for 1 minute. Remove cloth from water; squeeze excess water from cloth. Working quickly, spread the hot cloth on a bench. Rub the extra flour into centre of the cloth to cover an area of about 40cm in diameter; leave the flour a little thicker in centre of the cloth where the “skin” on the pudding will need to be thickest. 4 Place pudding mixture in centre of cloth. Gather the cloth evenly around pudding, avoiding any deep pleats; pat into a round shape. Tie cloth tightly with kitchen string as close to mixture as possible. Knot the corners of cloth together to make pudding easier to remove from the boiler. 5 Gently lower pudding into the boiling water. Tie the free ends of the string to handles of the boiler to suspend the pudding. Cover boiler with a tight-fitting lid; boil rapidly for 6 hours. Replenish the boiling water as needed to maintain boil and water level – there must be enough boiling water for the pudding to be immersed at all times. 6 Untie pudding from the handles. Place handle of a wooden spoon through the knotted string loops to lift the pudding from the water. Don’t put the pudding on the bench; suspend it from the spoon on the rungs of an upturned stool. The pudding must be suspended freely. If the pudding has been cooked correctly, the cloth will start to dry in patches within a few minutes. Hang pudding for 10 minutes. 7 Place the pudding in a bowl, cut string; gently peel away cloth to uncover about half the pudding. Scrape the ‘skin’ back onto the pudding with a palette knife, if necessary. Invert the pudding onto a plate and continue to peel off the cloth completely. Stand the pudding for at least 20 minutes or until the “skin” darkens and the pudding becomes firm, before cutting to serve. Suitable to freeze. Butter suitable to microwave.