Jan Ellis Pudding with a brandy-orange sauce

I finally steamed my Christmas pudding two days back. The recipe said 10 to 12 hours but I just couldn't bear to carry on for that long and so after about 8 hours I checked it with a skewer, nothing stuck to it and so I decided it was time. While it was steaming, there was no divine smell of the soaked fruits in brandy or anything and I was disappointed. But once the cake was put aside to cool, the smells that filled my house was sooo good. It was like Christmas in a bowl. Ro on the other hand could have been a bit more enthusiastic about it..but instead he asked:

'cant we just buy a pud from M & S like we always do?' 

No we cant because I STIRRED this pud with aching arms and now I want to flambé it for Christmas. OK then this months electricity bill is coming out of your salary. 

Hmm, OK, screw the stirred pud, maybe we can actually just buy it from M & S

But then we agreed to still go ahead with this, with the bill situation still unresolved. But when those smells wafted through the house, I had a slight feeling it was thoroughly worth it. Its now well wrapped up and put in a cool, dark corner for the flavours to develop and then on Christmas day it has to steam for another 2 more house, after which it will be ready to be flambéed.

Since I couldn't eat the pudding I steamed, I went and baked another pudding yesterday. I am a novice when it comes to steamed puddings and after the 8hr experiment, I didn't want another steamed one. So I opted for the Jan Ellis Pudding which is probably the simplest but tastiest pud I have had in a while. I made it in a 2 litre Mermaid pudding basin which was absolutely perfect for the deed. Made of hard anodised aluminium, the basin is extremely solid and durable and there is even heat distribution which is great for the pudding to cook all the way through. I did butter the basin a bit with fear of not being able to turn it out on to a plate easily, but I doubt that was necessary, as it came out nice and smooth and with no fuss. The only thing I noticed was that, about 10 minutes into the baking time the top started to brown severely. I don't know if it was because of the heat from the basin or just the oven, but it was solved by covering with a silver foil sheet.  

The pudding is traditionally South African and you can read more about it on Cook Sister where I saw the recipe a loong time back and had book marked it. The pudding on its own is pretty average, but the sauce that accompanies it just takes it to a whole different level. Soaked in the sauce, this dessert will definitely be a hit. Go on, try out something different for Christmas and I assure you wont be disappointed.

Recipe adapted from here and here (serves 4 to 6)

Milk- 1/2 cup

Baking soda- 1 tsp

Plain flour- 1 1/2 cups

Granulated sugar- 1/2 cup

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Apricot jam- 2 tbsp

Eggs- 2

Butter- 2 tbsp, melted

Cinnamon powder- 1/8th tsp (optional)

For the sauce

Double cream- 3/4 cup

Boiling water- 1/2 cup

Granulated sugar- 1/2 cup

Orange zest- 1/2 tbsp

Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Brandy/ Cognac- a few splashes 

 

Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and keep aside.

Mix together the flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl and into that add the remaining ingredients. Mix well using a strong wooden spoon, breaking down the apricot jam as you go.

Pour in the milk mix and continue stirring till all the ingredients come together and you get a smooth batter.

Pour into a lightly greased 2 litre pudding basin and bake in an oven preheat at 180C for about 40 to 45 minutes.

Once the skewer comes out clean, take the basin out of the oven and leave to cool for about 5 minutes after which you can turn it on to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the pudding is in the oven, you can get working on your sauce.

Mix together the cream, boiling water, sugar and orange zest in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Take it off the heat and add in the vanilla and brandy, give a good stir and leave aside till your pud is ready.

When ready to serve, douse the pudding with enough syrup and have it hot or cold.

What I did was, I transferred the pud into a deep plate, warmed it up a wee bit in the microwave and poured over the some of the sauce. 

Left it aside for a couple of minutes and it had soaked up pretty well.

If you don't want to do this, then once you slice the pud, you can pour over the sauce then and serve. Not everyone might enjoy a soaked up pud. I sure did though :)

 

Notes: Feel free to halve the recipe, in which case you may need to reduce cooking time and also use a smaller pudding basin.

That said, you are free to bake this in any pan you like, a 9 inch cake pan would work perfectly well. But again watch out for cooking time.

I think i over baked my pud  a bit more than necessary and so it wasn't it soft soft. But once the sauce went over, it was no problem at all.

Jeanne of Cook Sister has used orange zest in her batter as well. Feel free to use about 2 tsp of zest if you please.

The cinnamon powder can be replaced with a pinch of nutmeg powder, or completely avoided. Your choice.

The brandy is purely optional. Avoid if not a fan.

I thought the apricot jam would lend a nice taste to the final product, but was disappointed I couldn't even taste it. I wonder why???

With thanks to Mermaid Bakeware for sending me the Pudding Basin for this challenge. All views expressed are my own.

Bobotie (pie)

Well here I am, earlier than expected, but that's only because I made this amazing pie yesterday for brunch and couldn't wait to share it with you all. Before I lost interest I clicked a few pics (with whatever was lying around- no styling blah, blah) and decided to post it yesterday itself. But the enthusiastic husband instead decided to drag me to Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon, to the midst of all those Christmas shoppers and chaos and then after strolling (pushing through would be more apt) through just 3 department stores, he threw his hands up and said I hate this crowd, I hate Oxford Street (how on earth can you hate OS??)

Well, what did he expect it to be like 5 weeks (eeks only 5 more weeks) before Christmas? empty? I suppose not. So while I waited in line at Starbucks for a cup of eggnog latte, Ro was eating my head about the situation. I had warned him about the crowd and said we should go to a mall in the suburbs to avoid the crowd, but no OS was the ultimate shopping destination. And then I had to listen to all this nonsense and was so so so close to losing it when I suddenly had an idea- tea should do the trick. So I dragged him into the coffee bar at Debenhams, got him a pot of tea and scones and saw that smile return to his face. Really, if that's all it takes to keep a man happy, here I am bowing down to tea and scones.

So anyhoo, after all that galavanting I came home excited at the prospect of going back again ON MY OWN and just when I sat down to write a blog post, Ro came and nagged me again saying it was pizza and movie night. I was convinced pretty easily and so we sat and watched a cheesy mallu movie with wine and pizza :)

So here I am finally in the mood to write a post after I spent the whole of today moping around the house as a reflection of the foggy climate outside. I have a very unassuming cook book a friend gifted to me which has all these really easy but delicious recipes. I am too lazy to get up and go check the name of the book, so you will just have to take my word for it. I came across a Bobotie (pronounced Ba-boor-tea, apparently) recipe in that book and decided to make it for brunch, since its a one pot meal and I had all those ingredients it called for (well most of it, at least). But the internet obsessed me still googled for it and came across a much more interesting recipe. I had some left over herb rice which I served alongside, and it was heavenly. Both of us agreed.

I admit it is not the traditional way of making Bobotie, because I just went ahead and did what was convenient for me. It was tasty nonetheless.

Recipe adapted from here

Minced beef- 500 gms (use chicken, pork or mutton and it should be fine as well)

Butter- 1/2 tbsp (I used oil)

Cumin seeds- 1 tsp

Onion- 1 large

Garlic paste- 1/2 tbsp

Ginger paste- 1/2 tbsp

Tomato- 1 small (optional)

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Garam masala- 1 tsp

Coriander powder- 1/2 tbsp

Kashmiri chilli powder- 1 tsp (optional)

Dried mixed herbs- 1 tsp (I used thyme and parsley)

Dried apricots and sultanas- 2 tbsp each (I used only apricots)

Chutney- 3 tbsp (I used mango chutney)

Bay leaves- 2 + enough to bake

Single cream- 200ml

Eggs- 3

Salt and pepper- to taste

Heat the butter in a saucepan and add the cumin seeds and bay leaves.

Once it sizzles slightly, add the onions and sauté till light brown in colour.

In goes the minced meat of choice. Break it down with your spatula and cook on medium high heat till they have all changed colour (until you don't see the redness of the meat any more)

Reduce heat to medium and add ginger and garlic pastes and mix it all in and cook till the raw smell disappears.

Add all the remaining ingredients, except the eggs and cream, and stir well to combine.

Season with salt.

Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring in between.

While that's taken care of, break the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly.

Add the cream, season with enough salt and pepper, whisk together and keep aside.

The water should have evaporated from the meat by now, leaving a moist mixture. 

You can either go ahead and cook the meat completely or leave it 3/4th done, because you are going to cook it further in the oven. I chose to cook it all the way, since I really didn't want to take a chance.

Once the meat is cooked divide between 4 ramekins, pressing it firmly and leaving about an inch space above.

Stick a couple of bay leaves into the meat and using a ladle pour the egg mix on top of the meat. Fill all the ramekins.

Bake in an oven preheated at 180C for 25 minutes or till the topping has set firmly and has become golden brown colour.

Once done, cool on a rack for about 5 minutes and then serve with a salad or rice or just bread.

Notes: If you get curry powder, instead of all the masala's just use a tbsp of that.

Use apricot jam if you don't have dried apricots and whole milk instead of single cream

Original recipe called for 50gms each of dried apricots and dried sultanas. I thought that would be a bit too much. Use according to your preference. Next time id just use the jam instead.

It also called for 25gms of flaked almonds which I didn't have, so omitted it.

After reading a couple of reviews that said the egg mix just got mixed with the meat, I decided to pour the egg on top just before placing in the oven and I think it did the trick. I got a pretty decent layer on top. 

You can just go ahead and make it in one large casserole dish, in which case bake it for an addition 10 to 15 minutes more.