i had to make a lot of substitutions 'cause xmas pudding is a british foodstuff. and even though it feels like i live in a wee britain, i don't. (at least not yet.) so when the recipe called for mixed candied peel, i had to use the stuff that goes in fruitcake.
additionally, i swapped sultanas for golden raisins. this was just the tip of the trade out iceberg. what else had to be replaced?
well, we had no brandy in the house so i used bourbon.
suet is a main part of the recipe. i don't even know where to start looking for that in the states so i subbed frozen butter in its place.
btw, this is what frozen butter looks like after it's been grated. cheesy, non?
the last of the ingred subs involved swapping out mixed spice for pumpkin pie spice.
once i had the ingredients sorted, it was time to start marinating fruit in booze overnight.
that was 12 of the 20 hours right there. the other 8 had to do with steaming the pudding. before i show you that step, i need to mention that there's a pound coin in this pudding.
tradition, right? it goes into the batter after everything is mixed.
ah! time to mention another substitution! i don't have a pudding bowl so i used my trusty green pyrex bowl that has served me so well in the past. i then placed this into a makeshift steamer that i made using my colander and stock pot.
you see the clock at 10:15? yeah, i didn't take the pudding off the heat until 5:15. this is what it looks like after 8 hours of steaming.
and after a glaze of bourbon.
no, not what you imagine when you think "xmas pudding" but, well, i *am* making this in the colonies. heh.
after the pudding cooled, i wrapped it in wax paper. it now has to rest for 19 more days in a cool, dry place to sort of...meld.
xmas day though, i'm going to eat the hell out of it with SO MUCH BRANDY BUTTER! (i'll post photos of this a bit later, naturally.)
i'm not finished with baking! later this week i'll have more geek cookies to look at. check back soon!
2 comments:
Your substitutions should be fine (although what the he'll are the green bits in your fruit shizzle?) - most people who go to the effort of making a pud freestyle it a little. It does look a little lighter in colour to what I'm used to but with lashings of boozy buttery goodness you won't care if it's purple...
Bourbon will be a perfectly cromulent choice - I've seen whisky enhanced puds in the past!
hooray! it passed the briton test! :D
i don't know what the green things are. that candied weirdness always freaks me out. and now it's...living in my cabinet. 0.0
i think your brown sugar has more molasses than ours does? am i making this up?
bourbon is soo gooood. if i'd gone with another brown booze i'd've had to use whiskey 'cause it costs too much to import whisky.
Post a Comment