Welcome

Reaching the final of Masterchef 2007 was a rollercoaster of emotion, with huge highs and lows, but I loved every minute and learnt a huge amount. I owe a great deal to John and Gregg who had faith in my ability when I did not believe in myself. Since competing on the programme my life has changed considerably. I now write cookery columns for two magazines, give cookery demonstrations and am just working on my 13th cook book - unlucky number for some but not for me!!! I love all forms of country cooking, using seasonal and locally sourced produce. This blog is to enable me to share with you a few of my recipes and baking ideas. Enjoy Hannah xxxx

Monday 16 February 2009

Steamed Ginger Pudding
Preparation time 25 minutes, cooking time 1 ½ - 2 hours
Serves 4
5 tbsp golden syrup
85g/3oz stem ginger preserved in syrup, chopped and syrup retained
170g/6oz self raising flour, sifted
85g/3oz vegetarian suet
100g/3½oz caster sugar
zest of 1 orange
55g/2oz dried cranberries or sultanas
125ml/4¼floz milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
Custard to serve

Grease a large pudding basin with butter and place the golden syrup in the bottom of the bowl together with 2 tbsp of the ginger syrup from the preserved ginger. Place the flour, suet, caster sugar, chopped ginger and cranberries or sultanas in a bowl and add the milk gradually stirring with a wooden spoon until you have a soft and slightly sticky dough. You may not need all of the milk. Spoon the mixture on top of the syrup, filing the basin three quarters full. Take a large sheet of baking parchment and one of silver foil and place one on top of each other. Fold a pleat down the centre of the sheets, to allow room for the pudding to expand. Cover the basin with the foil and fold tightly around the rim of the basin. Secure with string, adding extra string across the top of the basin to act as a handle. Half fill a large saucepan with water and place the pudding basin inside. Cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer for 1 ½ - 2 hours. You will need to check the pudding regularly to ensure that the water does not all evaporate. Top up the water as necessary. When cooked, the pudding should feel firm to touch and a knife should come out clean with no cake batter on when inserted into the centre of the pudding. Just before the pudding is cooked, simmer the remaining 3 tbsp of golden syrup with the lemon juice in a saucepan until the syrup has melted. Slide a knife around the edge of the basin and invert onto a serving plate. Serve straight away with the extra syrup poured over and custard.

I do apologise to anyone using internet explorer rather than firefox as it appears you haven't been able to see the above recipe as I posted in Linux rather than microsoft - hopefully this is resolved now!

2 comments:

Alex said...

Oh goodness, a steamed pud always makes me go weak at the knees!

Maria♥ said...

You can't beat a good old british pudding, looks delish!

Maria
x