Plum pudding — a Rowley Leigh recipe - Financial Times

Plum pudding never did contain fresh plums. The "plumbs" of pudding recipes in the 16th century were dried fruit, especially raisins and sultanas, and mixed into a heavy dough of sugar, flour and suet. They owed their existence to the arrival of the pudding bag, unknown in medieval recipes which almost always refer to puddings as stuffings to go inside birds, fish or animals, or bits of animal such as a sheep's stomach as in the case of haggis.

By the middle of the 18th century, plum puddings had become an essential part of the diet, especially when entertaining one's country neighbours, with their merits judged by the quantity and quality of dried fruit they contained. It was not until the invention of Christmas in the Victorian era that it became specifically a Christmas pudding.

Another Tudor invention was Jack Horner's plum pie, which did not contain plums either. Hidden inside it were the leases of 12 manors belonging to the abbot of Glastonbury, with which the priest hoped to bribe Henry VIII and keep his monastery from "dissolution". The ruse failed. The monastery was destroyed, and the abbot hung, drawn and quartered. Yet Jack Horner, the abbot's steward charged with delivering these title deeds, fared better. Legend has it that he pinched the lease to the manor of Mells in Somerset — the "plum" property — and set himself up as a prosperous landowner.

Suet puddings might be deeply unfashionable — as good a reason as any to commend them — but this one, rich with sugar, fruit and suet, is good autumn fare, perfect for that time when we start turning on the heating, light fires and need some inner warmth.

Plum pudding

A 1.5-litre pudding basin is required, preferably with a lid. Any good fleshy plums, not overripe, will serve. Leaving the stones in will both save a lot of bother and give a better texture to the finished result.

Serves up to eight

The pastry

Quantity	Ingredients
225g	self-raising flour
	Pinch of salt
100g	shredded suet
75ml	milk
	Butter and flour for greasing the basin

The filling

Quantity	Ingredients
1kg	plums
75g	dark brown demerara sugar
1	lemon, zest and juice
8	cloves, crushed
1	cinnamon stick
4	star anise

1. To make the pastry, sieve the flour into the bowl of an electric mixer with a pinch of salt and the shredded suet. Mix on a medium speed until the suet has been thoroughly rubbed into the flour. Add an equal quantity of cold water to the milk and pour 90 per cent of this into the flour, still steadily beating on a medium speed. The dough should gather itself into a coherent mass: if it doesn't, add the remaining milk and water. Once ready, remove from the bowl and rest the dough for at least half an hour in the fridge.

2. Butter and flour the pudding basin. Roll the pastry out into a large disc 30cm in diameter. Cut out a quarter segment and drop the remainder into the basin. Gently bring the two cut sides together with a slight overlap and push them down to form a firm seal. Ensure the pastry is in place and comes up to the top of the basin (it's not the end of the world if it doesn't quite reach; you will just have a slightly smaller pudding). Reform the reserved quarter of the dough and roll out to a disc large enough to cover the pudding.

3. Wash the plums and mix them with the sugar, lemon zest and juice, and crushed cloves. Start to fill the pudding, with the cinnamon stick in the centre, adding the star anise occasionally. Once full — pushing the plums well down so there are no gaps — brush the top of the pastry with cold water and cover with the disc of pastry. Push these together and bring any excess from the sides over the disc to ensure a good seal.

4. Place the lid — or a sheet of foil tied in place with string — over the pudding. Put the pudding in a steamer (or on a trivet in a deep, covered saucepan) for three hours. Allow the pudding to rest for five minutes, uncovered, before turning out and serving with cream or custard.

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