Elaborate Pouding Antoinette aka Cabinet Pudding - to make for your beloved Mum for Mother's Day perchance?

Bonjour ma petite Pouding Antoinette - also heretofore known as Cabinet or Chancellor Pudding but renamed when adorned with furbelows of cream and magnificent glaceed fruit from Histoire Sucree - generously gifted to me by Isabelle White, owner of said online French confectionery store...ahhhhhh

I took my recipe from a charming little book called "Christmas Sweets and Holiday Treats" by Allison Kyle Leopold and made the recipe twice in order to refine it - the first time I didn't have the Histoire Suree delights to hand so I made my own candied orange peel and altered the recipe to work better the second time - when you are trying a recipe for the first time you really don't know what you'll get and I found the recipe as named above needed only half the cake amount but a full amount of the custard so if you are making something for the first time and want it to be perfect you should do a trial run before serving it at an important occasion - such as a Mother's Day dinner - I do think your Mum would love this so maybe do it for the US day Sunday May 12th.

There are a lot of steps involved but it is so worth the effort, each of the steps is relatively simple, and when you have decorated it with all the bells and whistles doesn't it look dreamy? Just like my idea of a dessert made for Queen Victoria who is believed to have been a great fan of said delight:)

So off we go...

Make the GENOISE CAKE first - I have learned a great trick to making this rise profusely which I have not been able to do until now, when I have made genoise before it has been almost as flat as a pancake!! So I am glad to be able to share it with you.

(You can use store bought genoise, or use lady fingers to reduce your time and possibility for error if you would like - you can even use a pound cake or sponge cake - of course the result will not be as light - but I bet will be just as delicious!!)

HAVE ALL YOUR INGREDIENTS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND BAKE ON A DRY DAY.

This recipe is for a pudding bowl that holds 32 fl oz of liquid and is 4" high by 6" diameter - it serves 4 portions for genteel people or for James and I, who like our puddings most enthusiastically, it serves 2!

THE CAKE:

2 large eggs separated

1/2 cup/ scant 4 ozs sugar

1/2 cup/ 2 ozs white flour sifted

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 teaspon grated orange rind

1 teaspoon orange juice or orange liqueur - your preference.

1. Preheat the oven to 350F

2. Butter and line a 10" square x 1" deep baking pan 

3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks then gradually add half the sugar until peaks are stiff but not dry.

4. Whisk the egg yolks with the other half of the sugar until light and fluffy (that's THE trick - don't just whisk the whites, whisk the yolks too and the sugar helps with the volume!!! TA DAH!!!!)

5. Fold the grated zests and liquid into the yolk mixture.

6. Fold the yolks in to the whites very gingerly until just combined.

7. Gently fold the flour into the egg mixture and mix very very delicately until blended.

8. Gently spread into your prepared pan and smooth the top - the batter doesn't spread during baking so if you want a smooth top you need to do that before it goes in the oven.

9. Bake for about 10-12 minutes until golden in colour and springy to the touch. 

10. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan - then invert onto a surface and peel off the paper - don't worry if some of the sponge surface comes off with the paper - the cosmetic look of the sponge is irrelevant in the final pudding.

The next bit is a bit tricky as you need to cut two circles from the flat, cooled sponge to fit one in the bottom of your chosen pudding bowl and one at the top of the bowl - so a small one for the bottom - you can guesstimate this by holding the bowl over the sponge and gingerly marking a circle that you think will be a good size to fit in the bottom of the bowl - for the top layer turn the bowl upside down and mark a circle that is smaller by about 1/4" than the top circumference of the bowl - you do not need to be precise and the edges of the circles can be raggedy as above - the middle layer can be comprised of two halves of the rest of the sponge after cutting the top and bottom circles. and you can use torn pieces of the leftovers to fill in any gaps when you are assembling the pudding.

 Phew!!!

Next make the custard:

3 egg yolks

3/8 cup/3 ozs white sugar 

1 1/4 cups/ 6 fl ozs heavy/double cream

1 tablespoon marmalade 2 teaspoons orange juice

1. Heat the cream to just below boiling point - do not let it boil.

2. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar.

3. Temper the yolks by adding a bit of the hot cream and mixing all the time with a wire whisk

and repeat a few times until you are adding the last of the hot cream. Return to the pan over the heat and heat gently stirring all the time until the custard thickens to coat the back of a spoon:

Allow custard to cool - whisk occasionally so you don't get a skin - put into a pouring jug.

Next butter and line your bowl with grease proof paper - thus - again doesn't have to be perfect or smooth - as you can see mine certainly wasn't :)

...then start assembling your pudding... 

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING:

Jar of preferred marmalade - first time I made this I chose Bonne Maman which was very good, second time I found this gorgeous blood orange marmalade by Crofters - highly recommended!! I don't specify an amount as it will depend upon your taste for marmalade.

2ozs candied orange peel - chopped

2 ozs candied ginger - chopped

(You'll need the same amount again of orange peel and ginger for decoration)

(In the first version of the pudding I made I used my own homemade candied orange peel - it was good but the candied orange peel from Histoire Sucree was AMAZING - so soft and clear - put mine to shame - same was true of the candied ginger from Histoire Sucree - it is quite astonishing in it's tooth and visual clarity)

My homemade glaceed orange peel and crystallized ginger from the Belfast Food Coop

Now to put this all together: Have oven ready at 350F

Put one layer of sponge in the bottom of the bowl

Cover with a slather of chosen marmalade as much or as little as you like

Cover with chopped ginger and orange peel:

Put a second layer of sponge - comprised of halves or bits of leftover sponge after cutting out the top and bottom circles.

Repeat other two steps above.

Finish with biggest circle of sponge on the top.

NOW: Pour the custard gently over all of the pudding and allow it to soak in before putting into a bain marie/water bath with hot water about 2 inches up the side of the bowl:

 Bob into the oven and bake for about 1 1/2 hours until puffed up and the top is golden brown - do check the custard has solidified though - the first one I took out thinking it was ready and inverted onto a plate and all the custard ran out so I had to finagle getting it back in the bowl and baking for another 15 minutes - so when you take it out put your oven gloves on and push the sponge aside and tip the bowl to see if you see any liquid custard - if not take out, if you do return for another 15 minutes.

When it is ready take out of the water bath and allow to cool to room temperature before inverting onto a pretty plate.

Now cover as you will in fluffy pretty furbelows of Chantilly Cream - ie cream whipped with sugar to taste to soft peaks - get your piping bag out and go crazy and if you're lucky enough you'll have some Histoire Sucree delights to hand to make your Pouding Antoinette look fit for a Queen!!!

Isabelle sent to me Marrons Glace to die for, crystallized roses and violets that REALLY tasted of such in a beautiful delicate and non-soapy way, sugared mint leaves, candied/glaceed ginger and orange peel, glaceed calamondin orange - my favourite of the glaceed fruit - very intense and sublime, kiwi, apricot, peach and a perfect whole seckle pear, sugared almonds - that tasted just like the ones from my childhood, crystallized mimosa balls that brought back the memory of a little sweet shop toy I had as a child where they gave you mimosa balls as part of the items in the shop - those were the days!!! and silver dragees - this is the assortment I used on the pudding:

...and here is a picture of the first Antoinette I made when it was still called Cabinet Pudding - before it's ascendence to celestial and the marriage of France and England, who I've always thought of as great friends!!! in the sublimity of a divine pudding now called Antoinette:)

 ...more of Antoinette for you to swoon over...

 Look at those lovely layers of sponge and delicious ginger and orange peel...ahhhh.

Mimosa balls and silver dragees - and another plan view of the first try out:

If you are inclined do try this gorgeous pudding - it is very subtly, grown up in it's flavour - actually not too sweet if you can believe it and an elegance of taste that derives from the abundance of marmalade and citrus therein.

Happy Baking, Custard Making, French Confection Buying and Steamed Pudding making to you all - let me know if you make it and feel free to post pictures at my Facebook page here:

www.facebook.com/PatriciaSheaDesigns

Thank you so much Isabelle and Histoire Sucree!!!! Merci Beaucoup...  

 

Pretty Bittersweet Steamed Chocolate Orange Pudding

 

I've wanted to make this pudding for quite some time mostly because it is SO pretty and despite the fact that I am not a big chocolate lover - I like it don't get me wrong I just don't love or crave it the way so many people do - I am sure there is something missing in my personality to be thus but I accept my burden humbly. Many times when you see a recipe in a magazine or book, I have found, to my dismay, that they rarely, if ever, come out in my kitchen the way they do so perfectly in the photographs but I have to say this time I was pretty impressed with myself and you will be too - with yourself I mean - if you also make this pudding. It is a delightfully moist little number and although it looks fudgy and wet like a flourless chocolate cake in the close up below it is not like that or indeed like a regular steamed pudding - it' not spongey or cakey but it is dense AND light and crumbly because of the almonds - the oranges make it DIVINE - they are lightly marmaladey and not too bitter - they were the winner in this pudding for me. This recipe is from British Country Living magazine January 2011 - the article is by Clarissa Hyman and recipes by Alison Walker.

Always read the recipe through first - this one takes a couple of hours total - have everything at the ready - your steamer bubbling delightfully and all the ingredients at room temperature as that makes for easier creaming and less curdling of the batter.

Serves 6 easily.

Prepare the orange slices first:

One thin skinned orange cut into thinnish (1/4" 5mm or a little less) slices.

4 fl ozs/125mls water

4oz/125 sugar

I found the easiest way to do this was in a big frying pan where I could have all the slices on the same level - I tried a couple of saucepans but then the slices were on top of one another - so try a big frying pan first.

1. Dissolve the sugar in the water - boil gently for a couple of minutes and then add the slices.

2. Simmer gently for 15 minutes. 

3. Remove the slices and allow to cool completely and reserve the liquid for pouring over the finished pudding.

GATHER ONE'S INGREDIENTS:

6oz/175g butter - you know I always use Kate's which has tons of goodly flavour

6oz/175g sugar

3 eggs whisked

4 1/2oz/125g plain white flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 oz/35g cocoa powder (the recipe said 2oz/50g but I reduced that because as I mentioned I'm not a big chocolate personage but you can go for the bigger amount if you want :))

3oz toasted almonds ground - toast for about 8 minutes in a 350f oven until browned and fragrant - taste one carefully and see if it tastes toasted - and keep an eye on them because they catch fast - allow to cool COMPLETELY and grind as suggested below. 

2 tablespoons whole milk

To grind your almonds yourself: In a coffee grinder place a handful of the COLD almonds and a couple of tablespoons of the already measured flour and then grind to a powder - if you do the almonds by themselves in the grinder they will become greasy and not grind to a goodly powder - the addition of the flour really helps this process!

METHOD: 

1. Grease a pudding bowl - mine measures 7 1/2" across by 4" high and was well big enough - I only have a domed one but it worked fine - you can see in the British Country Living pic they used a 'proper' pudding bowl that has a flat top. 

2.Line the bottom of the bowl with greased parchment paper:

 3. Arrange the cooled orange slices in the bowl thus:

 

4. Commence making the pudding!

5. Sift all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

6. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

7. To stop the mix from curdling add the eggs in batches and beat well between additions - if it does curdle which it might as this is a lot of eggs do not fear the mix will come back together when you add the dry ingredients :)

8. Fold in the dry ingredients and then the 2 tablespoons of milk and incorporate well:

8. Put a couple of big tablespoons of the chocolate yumminess on top of the orange slices gently and spread to fill the cracks:

9. Then add the rest of the batter and smooth.

10. Now cut a large circle of parchment/greaseproof paper big enough to cover the bowl and go down the sides by an inch or so then cover tightly with aluminium foil and secure with an elastic band then tie with string as the picture leaving long ends for easy putting into and taking out of the steamer!:

11. Now put into a double steamer basket and steam the little darling for about 1 1/2 hours and make sure you keep checking the water isn't getting too low.

(Make your custard whilst the pudding is steaming)

12. Remove the pudding with the string and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto your serving plate: 

Pat yourself on the back because it looks so good!!

12. Put the orange syrup back on the stove and simmer until nice and thick - if you go too far you can always add a little water and bring it back to syrupy - but don't burn it which is easy to do - and pour over the pudding.

It looks wet and fudgy but it isn't - it's moist and crumbly!

Add lashings of Chocolate Custard!!

For 6 you may want to double this recipe :)

CHOCOLATE CUSTARD SAUCE 

10fl oz/1 1/4 cups of whole milk

1 heaped tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 whole large egg and 1 large egg yolk whisked together

3 ozs chocolate chips

1. Beat together the egg, egg yolk, vanilla and sugar together in a bowl.
 

2. Heat the milk to almost boiling and add in the chocolate and whisk until melted.
 

3. Stir a little of the hot milk into the egg mix and then a bit more to temper the temperature.

4. The add the egg/sugar/milk chocolate mix back into the warmed milk in the pan and stir until it thickens - you must stir the custard constantly and do not leave it alone until it is finished or it will curdle whilst you are not looking and you will have to start again. SO stir and stir and stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to thicken and coats the back of the spoon ...you take the spoon out of the custard, turn the spoon over, run your finger through the custard and if the line doesn't fill back in it is ready, don't let it cook too long or get too hot as the eggs will start to turn into scrambled eggs and the sauce will be grainy.....take off the heat immediately and continue to stir. 

You can eat this pudding hot - which is how it is meant to be - or cold which is how I prefer it - the oranges are WONDERFUL and I want to try a blond version of this soon. Personally I think the chocolate custard was too much and I would go with regular and if you want to do that you just leave out the chocolate chips and do the recipe the same.

Happy STEAMING and do let me know if you make this pudding - you can post pics on my Facebook page

Yesterday was the perfect day to steam a pudding - it was FRIGID in Maine - about 20F and snowing lightly - today however is warm and mild and raining 50f ish.

Here are pics from yesterday - I think the bittersweet pic is apropos, no?

The snowy lane down to Blueberry Hill

 

  

A New England Christmas Pudding for Stir Up Sunday

Will you join me on my somewhat experimental journey this Stir Up Sunday the traditional day for making your Christmas Pudding in times past - let's revive the tradition I say!! - and make a slightly different Christmas Pudding which I am calling New England Christmas Pudding because of the addition of cranberry sauce and pumpkin puree - although to be fair Brits do eat cranberry sauce by the bucket load at Christmas but with it being so close to Thanksgiving I feel these ingredients have a more American bent. I haven't made this pudding before so I won't be able to tell you how it comes out or tastes until Christmas Day itself. If you'd like a more traditional pudding I did one a few years ago HERE or Auntie Beeb (The BBC) has a good recipe too - right HERE. Having looked at quite the number of Christmas Pudding recipes over the last couple of weeks I have to tell you white flour is about the only consistent ingredient - oh and sugar but other than that there are recipes with breadcrumbs, figs, prunes, raisins, with eggs, without eggs, with apples, potatoes, carrots and on and on - they do all get the living daylights steamed out them though and that seems to be the key to their rich and dense nature. I have adapted this recipe from one I found on Pinterest from Babble Food I have added grated ginger and nutmeg and garam masal - a trick I found from Passionate About Baking when Deeba added it to her Fruit Cake a couple of years ago - a rich and fragrant spice that is perfectly suited to the exotic nature of a Christmas Cake or Pudding whose spicy additions help 'keep' the cake over it's month of maturing. So off we go. 

Firstly you will need to soak 3oz/1/2 cup of raisins in 3 fluid ounces of hot strong tea or apple juice for about 5 hours until they are nice and plump.

Now have a double boiler bubbling away ready to receive your lovely pudding.

INGREDIENTS: 

6oz/1 1/2 cups of white plain flour

7oz/1 cup of sugar - white or brown your choice

2 eggs beaten

2oz/2 tablespoons butter melted

4oz/ 1/2 cup cranberry relish/sauce/compote - I made my own recipe below below

4oz/ 1/2 cup pumpkin puree - I did my own from a pie pumpkin - I find it is less watery.

Pie pumpkin ready for steaming - you steam with the skin on - something I learned the hard way when I spent hours making my first pumpkin pie due to peeling a very large pumpkin before steaming and making my hands so sore - when it it soft you can so easily scoop the flesh from the skin - DUH!!!!

 1oz candied peel - I did my own that's why it looks a little grey and not bright orange like the commercial stuff - but that's OK for this recipe, I mean the commercial stuff, you don't have to make your own.

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon of garam masala - you don't have to use this if you don't want - you can use 1 teaspoon of cloves or mace.

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Tea soaked raisins, homemade candied orange peel, homemade cranberry relish, fresh ginger and nutmeg - YUM!!

1. Sift and swish all the dry ingredients together.

2. Mix all the wet ingredients together.

3. Mix the wet into the dry in batches until well blended.

That was hard!!!

4. Pour the batter into a greased basin that is about 5" high and 7" diameter - or you could use 2 smaller ones to the same effect - same amount of time steaming.

5. Cover well and leave in a cool place, but not the fridge, for a few hours or overnight to help lighten the pudding.

6. When you are ready to steam put a circle of buttered paper on the top of each pud and then cover tightly with aluminium foil and tie with string leaving long ends for easy putting into and taking out of the steamer!

Now put into a double steamer basket so the basin/s are not touching the water and steam the little darlings for about 3 hours, make sure you keep checking the water isn't getting too low.

7. Take puds out and let cool, then store away in a covered container til Christmas Day (again not the fridge) when you will retrieve them from their resting and maturing place and you steam them, YES AGAIN, for about another three hours. You will end up with a delicious fruity, moist pudding which you decant from their basins, serve hot and slather in brandy butter which is a simple combination of butter (12 tbsps), brown sugar (1/4 cup) and 6 tablespoons of brandy...cream butter and sugar together until light, beat in brandy a little at a time...very simple, a little crunchy and oh so delicious on a Christmas Pud.....you can also do the traditional lighting of the Pud by pouring a couple of tablespoons of brandy over the top of the pud and lighting it with a match...it burns off quite quickly and looks beautiful. Happy steaming!!

Nice bright Cranberry relish made from Maine cranberries - yea!!

Apparently cranberry growing is back on the rise in Maine - HERE are some cranberry facts from the Ricker Hill website.

6oz fresh cranberries

2.5 fl oz/ 1/4 cup apple juice/cider (not alcoholic cider)

2.5 fl oz/ 1/4 cup maple syrup

1 garlic clove (yes I put garlic in the pudding - you can leave it out if you like but I thought I'd be really daring)

2oz/ 14 cup sugar

2.5 fl oz/ 1/4 cup water
 

Put all the above into a small saucepan and cook until thick and red and lovely - allow to cool before using in your pudding. 

 As you can see I am working on some Christmas ideas and my handmade felt snowman and Santa are lounging around whilst I make my pudding.

Let me know if you venture with me on my Christmas Pudding SHEAnanigans:)

For those of an even more adventurous spirit here's another recipe from the book "Good Things from England" by Florence White - I am intrigued and may make this one soon too.

VEGETABLE PLUM PUDDING from Miss Mary Smith

INGREDIENTS:
4ozs potatoes peeled and grated (that's a good start for me - love my spuds I do!!)
4ozs carrots
3oz sugar
4oz mixed currants and raisins
3oz suet but you can probably use butter
1/2 oz candied peel 
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
A little milk if necessary

METHOD:
Same as above for buttering pudding basin, having steamer ready etc.

1. Mix everything but the egg and milk together and then blend in the egg and a little milk to make a loose batter and proceed as for above.

I'll let you know if I make it :) 

Happy Baking, or rather steaming! - Patricia

Here's a slice of said pudding with a big old dollop of brandy butter melting on top - tastes so much more appetizing than this picture looks :)

By the way you will notice there are no plums in my Christmas Pudding and there are usually no plums in most of them these days - I have heard two different explanations for this - either they were originally made with prunes which are dried plums OR the word plum was used latterly for expensive or excellent - of the best quality. Whichever is it we may never know but I would like to make one with prunes - that sounds awfully good to me.