Tomato Pudding (AKA Pie) - A Shaker Recipe

I laughed when I realized my last six posts were all about desserts or sort-of-desserts.  My sweet tooth obviously took control of my decision-making process!  So I went on a search for something more savory to prepare.

I'm still exploring The Best of Shaker Cooking by Amy Bess Miller and Persis Fuller.  With over 900 recipes, you can understand why it takes time to peruse.  There are so many temptations!  I found a recipe for lamb shanks I would love to make; it is almost time to find lamb shanks in the stores.  Fingers are crossed.

ISBN 0-02-584980-8

This recipe comes from the Vegetable section (See?  No desserts!).  There are twelve tomato recipes; within the recipes they have a quote from a Shaker sister:  "We have tomatoes for every meal -- fried for breakfast, stewed for dinner, soup for supper."  The Shakers were good gardeners and good cooks - which I envy - and their tomato recipes show us how to fry and stew them, but also how to bake and broil them, as well as making dumplings, custard, pie, puddings, salad, and toast.

The recipe specifically labeled as "pie" is basically sliced tomatoes bound together with a mixture of sugar, cream, egg, and nutmeg, and placed between two crusts.  

The recipe I tried is called a pudding.  It is a cooked filling on top of buttered crumbs and topped with a crust.  They offer a second pudding recipe that is similar, using bread cubes on the bottom, crumbs on the top, and the filling has more herbs.  I chose the simpler one to see what the filling is like without all the extras.  Besides, it is fun to make pie crust.  

The recipe source is credited to the Hancock Shaker Village.  Click here to visit their website.

Tomato Pudding (page 158)

4 cups canned tomatoes cooked down to 2 cups

1 cup light brown sugar

1 tablespoon grated onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

1 pastry lid for 8 inch pie plate

Combine first 5 ingredients and bring to a boil.  Simmer to thicken.  

In an 8-inch pie dish put bread crumbs, cover with butter, top with tomato mixture, and cover with pastry crust.  Bake in 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes.  Watch to see that bottom doesn't burn (use tip of knife to lift up crust).  Tomatoes burn easily.  Serves 4 - 6.

My Notes

First I made the pie crust dough and let it rest in the refrigerator while I did everything else.

The three cans of diced tomatoes yielded 43.5 ounces instead of the 4 cups = 32 ounces asked for in the recipe.  I decided to use it all and reduce to about half.

Being cautious about burning the tomatoes while reducing them, I keep the heat on very low for a long time.  This wasn't really reducing the quantity, so I turned the heat up after a few hours but watched it carefully and stirred it to make sure nothing was sticking on the bottom.

When it reduced to just under 3 cups (not quite half), I decided it was time to add the other flavors.  I adjusted their measures up a little to match the greater tomato quantity. (Not the sugar.)

To be honest, I was surprised at the amount of sugar listed in the recipe.  (Not that I was complaining, and still not a dessert!)  I wondered if it could be lowered and still taste good.

I also started preheating the oven at this point.

The instructions said to bring to a boil and simmer to thicken, so I put it on medium heat until it started to boil and then put it down to low to just a bare simmer.  I decided that "to thicken" meant to dissolve the sugar and to give the flavors a chance to infuse.  I wasn't sure it would thicken up much more.

It actually did thicken a little more (or was it my imagination?) and it tasted good.  I liked the hint of pepper.  It was a bit sweeter than I expected for a savory recipe.

The bread crumbs made a thick base in the pie pan.

There were no directions to mix the crumbs and the melted butter, just to cover the crumbs.  So I did!  I just poured the butter over the crumbs.

And then I poured the filling over it all.

You can see how full the pan was, which shouldn't have surprised me considering I made more filling that the recipe called for.  I decided it was acceptable because all that was left was to place the crust.

The filling was still very hot and I worried that the crust would be melted if it took me too long to get it "just right" once it was in place.

So I rolled the chilled crust and used an 8 inch cake pan as a guide for where to cut the crust to fit the pie pan.

Leaving an allowance for a decorative edge.

Then I flipped the crust on top of the hot filling and went to work to form the edge.  Boy, did I work quickly!

And then I popped it into the hot oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.

I checked it "using the tip of a knife", barely lifting the crust to see how the filling looked.  It darkened but did not look or smell burned.  I checked after 20 and after 25 minutes of cooking.  

It did overflow the pan - again, not surprising - but I had another pan underneath to catch the drips.

At 30 minutes the crust was nicely browned and it all smelled good.

I let the pie cool to lukewarm before serving.

The Verdict

Cooling allowed the filling to set up and firm before slicing.

I was impressed at how well the layers showed and stayed distinct.

I was also pleased that the tomatoes didn't burn.

I served it with a tossed green salad and a little sliced pork on the side.  It was nice to have the meat be a side dish in this meal.

As for the flavor:  it was good!  A distinctly tomato flavor, with some savory from the pepper and possibly from the onion.  The filling was very moist but not runny.  The top crust added a rich mouthfeel and a crispy crunch.  The bottom crumbs layer added a more chewy crunch, just like a similar crust you find on cheesecakes. 

Success!

Yes, it was sweet but not overly so.  I think you could reduce the sugar by at least 1/4 cup and still have a good result.  

My guest taster thought it was just right as it was.  I loved it, too, but I think it would be better with more pepper and some lemon zest.  The second tomato pudding recipe calls for more onion and adds parsley and basil, and a lot less sugar (lists 1/4 cup).  That would be good, too, and make it more savory.

We enjoyed the leftovers warmed up the next day.

A Quaking Pudding

I was wandering through a little bookstore in Los Angeles one day.  The cookbook section was small but had some interesting books, including the one I decided to buy.

ISBN 0 907325 653

Such a simple title!  I was intrigued to open it and was not disappointed.  From page 7:

John Evelyn (1620 - 1706), virtuoso, diarist and author, was the second son of a prosperous gentry family of Wotton in Surrey, whose wealth was founded on the manufacture of gunpowder in Queen Elizabeth's reign.

The description goes on to tell us that, among other things, he was a founder of the Royal Society, and "the first gardener-cook for whom meat was incomplete without a salad."  He was particularly interested in gardening, architecture, and city planning.

The editor of this volume, Christopher Driver, tells us that he first saw the manuscripts of John Evelyn some time in the 1950s:

... I saw exhibited there a large volume bound in decorated calf gilt, with Evelyn's arms on the cover and his woodcut bookplate inside.  It was titled, Receipts Medicinal, and proved on inspected to contain not only prescriptions for sick cattle and humans, but receipts for the still-room, formulas for preserves and perfumery (many of these in Portuguese), and culinary recipes.  (page 8)

He later went back and typed up the receipts of cookery.  "Evelyn's neat - but faint - hand always gives me a frisson, as though a friend had planted a great walnut tree three centuries ago."

The story of John Evelyn's life, as far as the editor could determine, is a good read.  Mr. Evelyn lived during a time of change in England, and his manuscripts reflect that.  I recommend it.

There are 343 receipts listed, some of which have a title only and no text.  There are many repeats.  Mr. Driver has reproduced them faithfully, including the spelling of the time and making notes about words that were crossed out or added in after the original words were written.  He also tried to determine the relationships that are mentioned in the receipts, tying the name or title to a person known at the time, and how Mr. Evelyn or his family might have known them.

Especially useful is the Glossary, starting page 179, that defines so many of the words used in the receipts.  I think I would use this when reading other old recipes, too.  Did you know a "kilderkin" was 16 gallons of beer?

The first recipe that caught my attention was #76, on page 69:

A quaking pudding

Take eight egges a pinte of creame, 4 spoonefulls of flower, a nutmeg a little rosewater, a quantity of sugar you thinke fitt, wett the cloath you intend to boile it in, then floure it and let it boile two houres.

I have made boiled puddings before and usually enjoy them, so I wanted to try this one.  The idea of it "quaking" made me think it might be more delicate than the puddings I've tried that used a lot of flour or had a base of bread crumbs.

My Redaction

8 eggs
1 pint heavy cream
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon rosewater
1/2 cup sugar

See the nutmeg bits?  I grated them then pounded the rest in a mortar.

First I filled a large pan up halfway with water and also filled the kettle, and began heating the water in both.

I broke the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a fork.  Then I poured in the cream and stirred it well.

The flour was spooned into the mixture.  First I stirred it to break up the clumps of flour, then beat it more vigorously to distribute the grains well.

The nutmeg and rosewater were stirred in next.

Finally, I added the sugar and stirred until all the sugar was dissolved.

The mixture looked a lot like pancake batter, but was very thin.

Yes, just like pancake batter.

I rinsed the pudding cloth well (this gets rid of any residual soap from the last washing), then draped it over a bowl that was deep enough to hold all the mixture.

I sprinkled flour over the cloth.  It shouldn't be thick but it should be spread around well.

The picture doesn't show it well, but the cloth is at least lightly sprinkled.

At this point the water in the large pan was simmering and the kettle was steaming.

So I poured the mixture into the cloth, pulled the edges up and gathered them into a bundle to contain the mixture.  I tied the edges together with a sturdy cotton string, not too snugly because you need to leave room for the pudding to swell.



Some of the mixture was seeping out so I worked quickly to get the cloth put into the large pan of hot water.  As soon as it touched the water, the parts seeping out cooked and stopped the leak.

I poured in enough hot water from the kettle to nearly fill the pan, putting the water level an inch or so below the top edge of the pan.

Finally, I gathered the excess cloth into a bundle and rested it on one of the handles of the pan.  This keeps it from falling over the edge and possibly catching on fire.

Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble!

I adjusted the flame under the pan until the water was just simmering without boiling over or bouncing the cloth around.  I noticed the water was circulating around the whole thing, and I liked that.

I set the timer for 2 hours.

After two hours of gently boiling it, I pulled the pudding cloth from the hot water, let it drain back into the pan for a minute or so, and then placed the whole thing in a bowl.  I removed the string and opened the cloth -- it is hot so be careful when touching it.

The top, as it came out of the cloth.

I could see the pudding was, indeed, quaking!  It looked delicate so I carefully put my serving bowl over the pudding's bowl and inverted it.  This allowed the pudding to transfer without breaking or having to pull the cloth off.

The underside.  I removed that bit of eggshell before serving.  The brown specks are nutmeg.

I sprinkled a little ground mace over the top to decorate it before serving.

It needed something decorative around the edges but that didn't happen.

The Verdict

The pudding was served still warm as a side dish to some pork confit on a bed of apples and onions, and a tossed green salad.  (Remember, John Evelyn thought meat was incomplete without a salad!)

It was easy to remove pieces with a spoon.  It was soft but firm enough to hold its shape.

Cut away view, from the side.

The texture was mostly smooth, meaning it felt smooth on the tongue but looked a little lumpy. 

The flavor was very delicate:  the rosewater and nutmeg combination suggested that some fruit had been added.  My guest taster thought there might be vanilla in it.  The sweetness was a little too much for me for it to be a side dish -- I think next time I would add only 1/3 cup sugar.  But it wasn't bad, and seemed to emphasize the sensation that fruit had been added.

My guest taster wondered if there was cheese in it, which I attribute to the heavy cream and the texture.

The ground mace was warmed by the pudding and provided a lovely scent to entice our taste buds.

It was, as I suspected, a delicate custard.  The little flour in it probably acted as a binder to allow me to turn it out into a dish without it breaking.  But that also allowed it to quake, or wiggle when the bowl was moved. 

A success, for certain!  We both enjoyed it as a side dish and I look forward to having the leftovers for breakfast or lunch.

Cherry Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Company was coming for dinner and I wanted something different for dessert.  I also had a lot of several-days-old bread that needed to be used up before it went moldy.  My taste buds decided that a bread pudding would be just the thing!

My experience in eating bread pudding has primarily been from friends who took slightly stale bread, tore it up into chunks, piled them into a pan, soaked them with a custard of eggs, milk, sugar, and flavorings, and then baked them.  The key was a long soak so the bread chunks got damp all the way into the middle.

These were always good!

So I went looking for that sort of recipe and was amazed to find out that all the old recipes did not ask for bread chunks but for dried crumbs.

The recipe I chose was from Hearthside Cooking by Nancy Carter Crump.

ISBN 0-914440-94-2

This is a fun book because Ms. Crump took recipes "from a variety of primary 18th- and 19th-century sources both published and unpublished" from "archives, libraries, and private collections throughout Virginia and North Carolina."  Her goal for the book was to interpret those recipes both for modern kitchens and for fireplace, "hearthside", cooking.

While I was tempted to cook this on a hearth fire, I recognized that the time and effort involved were not compatible with the time I had allotted to prepare the dessert.  I'll save that for another day.

An Ordinary Bread Pudding (page 256)

Original recipe from the Virginia Gearhart Gray Collection:

Quarter of a pound of grated stale bread.  One quart of milk boiled with two or three sticks of cinnamon slightly broken.  Eight eggs Quarter of a pound of mace & little grated lemonpeel.  Two ounces butter.  Boil the milk with the cinnamon strain it and set it away till quite cold. Mix the butter and sugar.  Grate as much crumb of the bread as will weigh a quarter of a pound.  Beat the eggs and when the milk is cold stir them into it in turn with the bread and sugar.  Add the lemonpeel and if you choose a tablespoonful of rose-water.  Bake it in a buttered dish and grate nutmeg over it when done.  Do not send it to the table hot.  Baked puddings should never be eaten till they have become cold or at least cool.

Ms. Crump's redaction:

1 cup milk
1 cup cream
2 sticks cinnamon, broken in 3 or 4 pieces
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel
1/4 cup melted butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
4 cups coarse bread crumbs
2 teaspoons rose water (optional)

1. Scald milk and cream with cinnamon sticks and lemon peel on trivet over hot coals.  Add butter and set aside to cool.  When cool, strain into eggs, combining well.

2. Add sugar and nutmeg to bread crumbs.  Pour in milk and egg mixture.  Add rose water, if desired, and stir mixture well.

3. Pour mixture into 1 1/2-quart buttered casserole in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 to 60 minutes "until knife inserted in middle comes out clean."

4.  Serve at room temperature or cold with cream, Vanilla Sauce, or Wine Sauce.

Cherries are in the bowl.

My Notes

I dried my bread crumbs in the oven just to make sure they were stale enough. They weren't crispy but stiff.

"Scalding" milk is not something I do often.  It requires heating the milk mixture gently until bubbles start forming around the edges of the pan.  What this does is allow the flavors of cinnamon and lemon to infuse the liquid.  I let it cool for a while on the counter to get that infusion but then got impatient and put the pan into the refrigerator.

Pre-scalding shot

I used rose water (love the stuff!) but only 1 teaspoon since I wasn't sure how my guests would react to it.  It was strong enough for me in the batter and subtle enough in the finished product for my guests.

Adding the custard to the crumbs

I wanted to use dried fruit to make it a little more "fancy" and happened to have some dried bing cherries handy. I covered them with boiling water for 15 minutes to soften them and then drained off the water. (Ms. Crump has a note at the end of the recipe:  "1/2 cup raisins or currants may be added."  My cherries measured out to about 3/4 cup after soaking.)

About half of the cherries went into the batter and were stirred in.  The other half I sprinkled on top of the batter just in case the first half decided to sink to the bottom of the pan.

Half the cherries here

Ready for the oven!

While the pudding was baking, I made the Vanilla Sauce.  I didn't use the recipe in Ms. Crump's book but a recipe I had copied from somewhere else and left as a note and a place marker at the bread pudding recipe.  Circa 1997.

Vanilla Sauce

1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash salt

Mix sugar and cornstarch.  Add boiling water, stirring constantly.  Boil 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in butter, vanilla, and salt.

My Notes

I followed this recipe as directed.  Boiling the mixture for 5 minutes made the sauce very thick. (Where were you when I needed you for the Lemon Cream Pie???)  I put the container of sauce into the refrigerator until it was time to serve it with the bread pudding.

You really do need to stir it constantly.

The Verdict

The baked pudding was beautiful.  We forgot to take a picture of the whole dish but here is one of what was left after serving.

The five of us ate nearly the whole thing!

It baked for the entire 60 minutes before a knife came out clean but I think it could have come out at 45 minutes and been a little moister.  Not a problem, though.

The texture was dense, moist, and the cherries made it a bit chewy.  The flavor was very slightly sweet.  It was hard to detect the spices and lemon but I think, as background flavors, they added depth.  The rosewater was very subtle and complimented the cherries well.

Everyone liked it.  The leftovers made a good breakfast treat.  I warmed them up and liked the flavor a lot.  I tasted more of the cinnamon.

Success!

The vanilla sauce was too solid coming right out of the refrigerator so I warmed it up in the microwave.  This caused it to bubble but it really didn't thin out to a pouring consistency.  Still, it was tasty with the pudding, adding more sweet and a vanilla counterpoint to the cherries and bread.  We just had to spread it around with a spoon.

So success with reservations.  Next time I won't refrigerate it in advance.

Pre-chilling consistency.  Perfect.

Reviewing this book reminded me how much I like to cook over fire and how I need more experience than what I get a few times a year at demonstrations.  Fortunately the weather has been cold enough to inspire me to build fires in the fireplace.  Perhaps I can get some cooking done there!

Pwdin Caws -- Cheese Pudding from Wales

I borrowed this book from the library:  The Welsh Dresser -- More Recipes from Wales by Sian Llewellyn.  It was first published in 1974 but I think the one I borrowed was published in 1978.  I forgot to take a picture of the cover, so I found this one on Amazon (sorry it is blurry!):

ISBN 9780860050377

If you could read the front cover, you would see that he labels "cheese" as "caws" in Welsh.  So I think "pwdin caws" translates to "pudding cheese" or "cheese pudding".  Here is the recipe that caught my eye (from page 31).

Pwdin Caws

4 ounces Cheddar cheese
3 ounces bread crumbs
1 ounce butter
2 eggs 
salt and pepper
1/2 pint milk

Heat the butter with the milk and pour over the bread crumbs.  Grate the cheese.  Separate the egg yolks from the white.  Beat the yolks lightly and add to the bread crumb mixture with most of the cheese.  Season to taste.  Whip the egg whites stiffly and fold into the mixture.  Pour into a buttered pie dish and cover with the remaining cheese.  Cook for 30 - 40 minutes in a moderate oven (350 degrees Fahrenheit, 177 degrees Celsius, gas mark 4).

I used dried bread crumbs because I figured their job was to soak up the milk/butter mix and thicken the pudding.  It was the right thing to do.

Since those measures were in ounces, I got out my trusty digital kitchen scale and weighed them appropriately.  By the way, two tablespoons of salted butter really does weigh one ounce!  (I was told so but always wondered.)  The microwave took one minute to heat the milk and the butter until the butter was melted. 

After I poured the milk/butter mix into the bread crumbs, I stirred it.  This seemed to help the crumbs soak up the liquid quickly.

I used more pepper to season because I am finally making friends with that spice.  Mostly it is too strong for me.  Because the butter was salted, I used less salt in the mix than I might normally do.

Crumbs, milk, butter, egg yolks, salt, pepper

The stiffly-beaten egg whites folded in neatly to the rest of the mixture.  At this point I realized what I was making was a simple cheese souffle'.  I love souffle's!!

With folded in egg whites

Since it says to use "most of the cheese", I guessed that 3/4 should go in the pudding and the rest on top.  That was enough to spread across the pan in a very decorative way.

The oven preheated while I was doing the rest of the work.  While cooking, the cheese pudding smelled absolutely heavenly.  After 30 minutes the middle looked set and the dish was ready.

The Verdict
It wasn't as fluffy as I thought it would be but still, it was not dense at all.  It was a little too oily-looking for my senses but it certainly didn't taste greasy.  The bread crumbs made it a little chewy, which was a welcome body of texture to the dish.  The flavor was good -- I could taste the extra-sharp cheddar cheese and the spices seemed right for it.  I probably could have put in a little more pepper but certainly not more salt.

I declare a success!

I think this dish could play the role of appetizer (cut in thin wedges), side dish (with some roast beef to compliment the cheddar), or main course for a light meal. 

Bring Us a Figgy Pudding

It started with this website discussing various English pudding techniques:  http://www.historicfood.com/English%20Puddings.htm

Then it got pushed along when I broke all the "rules" and started listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving.

It occurred to me that I really wanted to make a boiled pudding for this blog and do it early enough that it could be posted before Christmas.

I have many recipes for puddings but what I really wanted was the classic "figgy pudding" referenced by my beloved Christmas songs.  Or at least what I imagined was classic!

There was really only one source I felt was worthy of this:  Hearthside Cooking by Nancy Carter Crump.  Ms. Crump, a culinary historian, does historical cooking demonstrations (and thus is near and dear to my heart); this book is a compilation of her research which includes recipes from colonial Virginia families.  The treat is that all her recipes first have instructions for cooking at the hearth and side notes for using more modern equipment.

ISBN  0-914440-94-2

In particular, on pages 244 and 245, she gives detailed instructions on how to make a pudding cloth, prepare it for use, and how to actually boil a pudding.  This was what I had been looking for when I acquired her book.

Ms. Crump did not disappoint.  On page 257 is:

Mrs. Alexander Cameron's Fig Pudding

Original recipe:
1/2 lb stale bread crumbs.  1/2 lb figs put through meat chopper.  2 eggs.  6 oz. brown sugar, 2 oz. flour  1/4 lb suet, a little milk, about half a cup.  flavor with nutmeg.  Boil 2 hours & serve with or without sauce.   (From the Shirley Plantation Collection, link: Shirley Plantation)

What excited me was the tiny footnote:  "Best cooked a week or two before use.  Wrap and store in air-tight container.  Warm through before serving."  Hey, I can make this in advance!

Instructions

1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup milk (I used half and half, rather than non-fat milk)
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup finely chopped suet (I used solid shortening, just a little less than a cup)
4 cups stale bread crumbs
2 teaspoons nutmeg  (one "nut" made about this much)
1/2 cup flour
2 cups chopped fresh figs or 3/4 cup dried (I used dried)

(My note:  I bought a loaf of French bread the night before I made this, sliced it thinly, and laid the slices out on a tray to stale overnight.  Then I processed them to crumbs.)

1.  Combine egg, milk, and brown sugar, blending well.

2.  Combine suet, bread crumbs, and nutmeg in a bowl.  Add liquid and mix thoroughly.

My Notes:  Since I used solid shortening instead of suet, I felt it was important to make sure it was well-distributed throughout the bread crumbs.  So I put it in a spoonful at a time, "mashing" it through the nutmeg and crumbs mixture, sort of like the way I would mix a pie crust.  At the end of the mixing, it looked pretty uniform.

I mixed in one little spoonful at a time

Crumbly like a pie crust

3.  Combine flour with figs, mixing well.  Fold into batter.

4.  Wet and butter a pudding cloth and gather around the batter.  Tie secure with string, leaving room for pudding to expand.

Dip the heavy linen cloth in boiling water, drain, spread with butter, dust with flour

Pudding mixture

Make sure ALL edges are tied up so nothing comes out during boiling

5.  Set an iron pot of water on crane and bring to a boil over flames.  Drop in pudding and boil 2 hours, turning occasionally and keeping water at a boil.  Replenish with additional boiling water as needed.

I have no crane, but this will do.  It barely fit in my biggest pot.

6.  Pull crane away from fire and carefully remove pudding.  Drain thoroughly in colander, then cut away string and put pudding in serving dish.

Steaming while draining

Unwrapped and cooling

7.  Serve hot, with or without sauce.

I want to serve it at Thanksgiving, so I am wrapping it and storing it away as per the footnote.

Other notes:
I made my first boiled pudding last spring in my own Tudor kitchen (see June 1, 2012 posting) and the recipe I used said to put a ball of butter in the middle of the pudding.  When that butter was seen in the boiling water, you knew the pudding was done.  That worked well.  This time I just went with the recommended two hour time.

Since my pot was so full during the boiling, I had to decide how hot it should really be.  I couldn't do a full, rolling boil without splashing all over, so I made it as hot as I could without making a mess.  I kept the pot very full of water, adding hot water from a kettle as needed, and turning the pudding every 15 minutes or so.  It swelled up visibly.

*******
Post-Thanksgiving Feedback 

Here is the pudding after about 10 days of being tightly wrapped and stored in the refrigerator:

It was firm and smelled nice.

I heated it up (first in the oven, then in the microwave oven to get it thoroughly hot) and served it at Thanksgiving dinner without any sauce.  I considered it a side dish.

The Verdict:  I liked it!  The flavor with definitely "figgy" with a mild spice complement.  The texture was firm and slightly creamy.  The bread crumb "matrix" that held the fig bits was a little bland, which was a good thing.  It was only mildly sweet so the figs could add their sweetness and keep it from being more of a dessert.

In summary, I would recommend it.  It was easy to make and fun to serve, as a bit of true England.  Success!

If I were to make it over again, I think I would chop the figs finer, so you don't get such a big bite of all fig when you do hit a chunk.  However, that would spread the fig bits more thoroughly through the whole pudding -- I'm not sure if that would be good or not!

One thing I like about figs is how their seeds crunch, and I got that in this pudding.


A quote from Ms. Crump's book:  "Blessed be he that invented pudding, for it is a manna that hits the palates of all sorts of people."  Happy Holidays!