St Helena Boiled Pudding
A Saint favourite!!! Thick slices of Boiled Pudding served up with custard and hot cups of milky tea. Sooo good! Learn how to make it with this easy to follow recipe.
Equipment
- Large Pot
- Heatproof plate or trivet
- Linen cloth (We use a cotton pillowcase)
Ingredients
- 563 g Plain Flour
- 225 g Butter
- 340 g Brown Sugar
- 226 g Chopped Dates
- 5 Eggs
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Mixed Spice
- ½ tsp Ground Nutmeg Spice
- 2 tsp Vanilla Essence
- 1 tsp Almond Essence
- Pinch of Salt
Instructions
- Sieve together flour, baking powder, mixed spice and a pinch of salt in a large bowl.
- Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add sugar and chopped dates to the breadcrumb mix.
- In a separate bowl beat the eggs, vanilla and almond essences together.
- Combine the egg mixture to the breadcrumbs to make a stiff ball of dough. The mixture will be quite sticky to start so resist the urge to mix using your hands, keep stirring with a spoon until all is combined.
- Dampen a linen cloth (or pillow case) and lightly dust with flour. Place your dough mixture in the centre of the cloth, and gather up the fabrics corners around the pudding dough. Tie the opening tightly with string, creating a loop handle to easily remove the pudding from the hot water once cooked. Remember to leave a little space inside to allow for expansion as the pudding cooks.
- In a large pot place a heatproof plate (upright) to prevent the pudding from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Full pot halfway with water and bring to the boil.
- Carefully lower the pudding into the boiling water onto your plate and loosely cover with the lid. Boil/steam for 3 - 3½ hours. Keeping an eye on the water levels, and topping up with boiled water from the kettle periodically if needed.
- Once cooked, remove from the pot and carefully unwrap the pudding from the cloth. allow to cool completely before cutting into thick slices. The cooking process should result in a chewy outer layer and a soft light rich cake pudding inside. The pudding will darken in colour as it cools.
- Serve with hot custard as a desert or have with a cup of tea.
Video
Notes
TIP: To sterilise your linen cloth/tea towel/pillowcase, soak in cold water overnight. Ring excess water out and then boil in fresh water for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water before ringing out access water.
