How long does this plum pudding take?

The total time is given as 285 minutes (about 4 hours 45 minutes), including preparation and the long steaming/cooking in the mold.

What is kidney suet, and can I replace it?

Kidney suet is the fat around the kidneys of beef/lamb, and the recipe uses 225 g cleaned and chopped together with the wheat flour. It is the very backbone of a traditional plum pudding; butter gives a different result but can be used if suet is not available.

How are the fruit and the mold prepared?

Apples are peeled and finely chopped, the raisins are cleaned, halved and pitted, the sultanas and currants washed, and the candied lemon peel cut into fine dice. The mold is greased and coated with rusk before the batter is filled in.

What spices and aromatics are used?

1 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cardamom, a knifepoint of cloves, plus the juice and grated zest of 1/2 orange, candied lemon peel and 4 tablespoons of brandy.

Plum Pudding III – recipe from 1914

Name: Plum Pudding III
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h 45 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Norwegian
Ingredients: 100 g apples (peeled and finely chopped); 100 g raisins (cleaned, halved and pitted); 100 g sultanas (washed); 100 g currants (washed); 225 g kidney suet (cleaned and chopped; can be replaced with cold, grated butter); 225 g white bread (crustless, soaked in the milk); 120 g sugar; 60 g candied lemon peel (cut into fine dice); 0.5 pcs orange (juice and finely grated zest); 1 tsp ginger (ground); 0.25 tsp cinnamon; 0.25 tsp cardamom; 1 knifepoint cloves (ground); 2 pcs eggs; 2 dl milk; 100 g wheat flour; 60 g sweet almonds (blanched and chopped); 4 tbsp brandy; butter and crushed rusk (for the mold)

About the dish

The third plum pudding variation in Erken's cookbook is a little lighter, with apples in addition to the dried fruit, and cooked in a mold in a water bath instead of in a cloth.

How to make it

1
Prepare the fruit
Peel and finely chop the apples. Clean the raisins, halve them and remove the stones. Wash the sultanas and currants. Cut the candied lemon peel into fine dice and grate the orange zest finely.
2
Suet and bread
Clean the kidney suet and chop it together with the wheat flour. Soak the crustless bread in the milk.
3
Mix the batter
Work the suet mixture and the soaked bread well together, and add everything else: fruit, sugar, lemon and orange zest, orange juice, spices, almonds, eggs and brandy.
4
Fill the mold
Grease a mold well and coat it with crushed rusk. Fill in the batter — the mold must be completely full. Tie a moist cloth tightly over.
5
Cook in a water bath
Set the mold in a pot of boiling water that stands above the mold, and cook for 4 hours. The water must boil the whole time, and be topped up with boiling water.
6
Serve
Turn the pudding out and serve with wine sauce or a flaming sauce.

Changes from the original

Measures modernized (dl, teaspoon, tablespoon). Unclear OCR fractions are reconstructed (¼ cinnamon, ¼ cardamom, ½ orange). Kidney suet retained, with a suggestion of butter as a substitute. The cooking method from "plum pudding I" is written out: the mold is tied over with a cloth and cooked in a pot of boiling water that must stand above the mold.

Original 1914 recipe

Verbatim from the first edition of the Big Cookbook.

Facsimile of the 1914 page at the National Library of Norway — Foto: Faksimile: Nasjonalbiblioteket

ProofreadPage 482

100 gr. epler 100 gr. rosiner 100 gr. sultanarosiner 100 gr. korinter 225 gr. nyretalg 225 gr. franskbrød 120 gr. sukker 60 gr. syltet citronskal saft og skal av 1/2 appelsin 1 teske ingefær 1/4 — kanel 1/4 — kardemomme 1 knivsod nellik 2 egg 2 del. melk 100 gr. hvetemel 60 gr. søte mandler 4 spiseskeer konjak. Eplerne skrælles og finhakkes, rosiner renses, kløves i to og befries for kjerner, sultanarosinerne og korinterne vaskes, citronskallet skjæres i fine terninger. Nyretalgen renses og hakkes med melet. Brødet uten skorpe bløtes i melken; skallet av appelsinen rives fint. Nyretalgen og det utbløtte brød arbeides sammen, tilsættes alt det øvrige. En form smøres, strøes med kavring, og deigen lægges i; formen maa være helt fyldt. Bindes over med klæde og kokes som forklaret under plumpudding I, men skal koke i 4 timer. Serveres med vinsaus eller brændende saus.

Revised 1949 recipe

From the revised edition of the Big Cookbook.

Facsimile of the 1949 page at the National Library of Norway — Foto: Faksimile: Nasjonalbiblioteket

ProofreadPage 553

100 gr. epler 100 gr. rosiner 100 gr. sultanarosiner 100 gr. korinter 225 gr. nyretalg 225 gr. franskbrød 120 gr. sukker 60 gr. syltet sitronskall saft og skall av ½ appelsin 1 teskje ingefær ¼ kanel ¼ teskje kardemomme i knivsodd nellik 2 egg 2 del. melk 100 gr. hvetemel 60 gr. søte mandler 4 spiseskjeer konjakk. Eplene skrelles og finhakkes, rosiner renses, kløves i to og befries for kjerner, sultanarosinene og korintene vaskes, sitronskallet skjæres i fine terninger. Nyretalgen renses og hakkes med melet. Brødet uten skorpe bløtes i melken; skallet av appelsinen rives fint. Nyretalgen og det utbløtte brød arbeides sammen, tilsettes alt det øvrige. En form smøres, strøes med kavring, og deigen legges i; formen må være helt fylt. Bindes over med et klæde og kokes som forklart under Plumpudding I, men skal koke i 4 timer. Serveres med vinsaus eller brennende saus. Til 6 å 8 personer.

Plum Pudding III

About the dish

How to make it

Changes from the original

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