'Plum' Pudding - my way

My grandpa is visiting for the holidays and so I have been going through the recipes my grandma handwrote for me. One recipe is for English XMas 'Plum' Pudding. It is a recipe, she writes, from "Women's Day" Specialty Recipe Collection, circa 1960s - but Grandpa remembers it as hers.

Grandma's recipe calls for candied citron, candied fruit and candied orange peel to be soaked overnight in beer....but I didn't have any beer, so I altered the recipe - slightly- and the result was a slightly boozy success - especially with the 'Sauce Suberb' (recipe below)

Let the following ingredients soak up 1 cup spiced rum and 1/2 cup prune juice over night:

1 1/2 cups raisins
1/4 cup candied cherries
1/4 cup dried apricots
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped dates
and add the zest of 1 small orange and then cut the orange into small cubes and add them too.

The next day:

Beat together:

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Stir in:

The fruit mixture
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup bread crumbs ( * if you don't have any, toast some bread and then grind it up)
and....and....1/2 cup lard

Sift the following into the above mixture:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice

Start boiling some water.

Pour the mixture into 2, greased moulds (only half way up!). Cover each one with tin foil with a pleat in the centre and then tie the foil on tightly.

Place them in a deep dish/pan - ideally the same height as the moulds, with a rack on the bottom (I used the big roasting pan- which has a rack- that we use for our turkey.)

Pour boiling water half way up the moulds.

Cover the pan with more tin foil ( or a lid, if it fits tight) and cook on the stove top for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Keep the water boiling.

*Try your best to refill more boiling water when the level goes down.

It is done when a knife comes out of the centre clean. Unmould and serve immediately OR keep in the fridge over night and the next day, unmould by dipping the bowl into a hot water bath for 5 minutes and then flipping it out onto a plate.

Serve with Sauce Superb (this recipe is from my grandma as well. She got it from a 'Loblaws Old Fashioned Recipes Pamphlet' from the 1940s):

Whisk in a bain marie until thick and pale yellow:

2 eggs

Take off heat and whisk in:

1 cup icing sugar
4 tsp spiced rum

In a separate bowl, whisk:

1 cup 35%/ whipping cream

Fold the whipped cream into the egg mixture and serve immediately (pft - as if you could wait!)

Boozy Banana Cream Pie

Devastated by the cessation of Gourmet Food Magazine ( R.I.P. 2009), I found myself sitting on the floor of my room, clawing manically through precious stacks of old Gourmet magazines dating back over ten years. I needed to absorb all the recipes and beautiful photography I could, as if they too were in danger of disappearing.

I came across a recipe for banana rum cream pie, kept the magazine open on that page and put it on my desk. I would be attending - and participating- in a "Food Jam" later in the week. Every few months my mom's boyfriend, Trevor - musician and foodie - hosts a pot-lock style dinner where there is one certain dish, or a certain set of rules that apply to what everyone is allowed to bring. Then we eat and play music and basque in life. Friendly competition always results in marvelous creations, like chocolate chicken chili at a "Chili Cook-off" last year, or goat's milk ice cream rolled in blue cheese and walnuts at the "Size Matters" food jam- where 'contestants' were asked to bring 30 identical pieces of anything they wanted as long as it was 2x2 inches.

Yesterday was Possum Pie. Rules: It must be a pie...that is all.

There was Sheppard's Pie, Trevor's apple, lime and pepper pie, Meat pie, Venison pie, Mississippi Mud pie...in total about 10 completely different pies, all with incredibly different- but all delicious- flavor profiles.

I made my own version of Banana Rum Pie, inspired by Gourmet magazine.

Here is the recipe:

Sweet Dough- I had made this earlier in the week for the cheesecake, and still had lots left, so I decided to use this instead of Gourmet's graham cracker crust.
( I don't have a mixer, so I did this by hand, which is not so bad, but if you have a mixer, use it)

Mix together:
250g icing sugar
250g unsalted butter, slightly soft
2 large eggs
*if using a mixer, mix on 2nd speed for 2 minutes. If by hand, until all the ingredients are just combined.

Sift together and add to the above mixture:
500g bread flour
7.5g baking powder
*if using a mixer, mix on 1st speed for one minute. If by hand, mix until it forms pea-sized crumbs and sticks together with you squeeze a handful.

Do not over mix.
Put the mixture on your counter top and kneed gently just to incorporate everything. Form it into a round disk, about 1 inch thick, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Use within a week.

When dough has chilled, soften slightly by gently kneading the dough- just so that it doesn't crack when you roll it. Lightly dust your work surface and roll out a circle to about 2 millimeters thick, and about 12 inches in diameter.

Roll up loosely with your rolling pin and then lay the dough into a lightly buttered pie mould. Gently press the dough along the edge and use a knife to scrape away the rough bits at the top. Let this sit in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes to an hour.

When ready, poke some holes in the bottom with a fork and bake at 350 F until lightly golden- about 15 minutes, but keep an eye on it.

While the crust is cooking...

Caramel Rum Sauce
In a small pot or pan, combine:
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream

Let it bubble over medium heat until it is almost at caramel sauce consistency (mmmmmm)


Then, over low heat add:
1/4 cup of dark rum

Let it reduce slightly and thicken until it is a perfect rummy caramel sauce. Set aside.

Rum Cream Topping

Mix until fluffy:
8 oz cream cheese
the zest of one small orange
6 tbsp dark brown sugar
(shh! secret ingredient: 1 tsp curry powder!)


In a separate bowl, whip together to form soft peaks:
1 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp dark rum

Fold the whipped cream mixture into the cream cheese mixture, starting with a little to loosen the cream cheese, then the rest. Fold gently, but effectively. Keep the mixture in the fridge until you need it.


*CHECK THE PIE*

When the pie has been taken out of the oven, set it on a cookie rack to cool slightly. Then, brush the bottom layer with:

1/2 cup melted chocolate*

*I used chocolate chips, but you can use whatever type of chocolate you like. This is to prevent the crust from getting soggy under the bananas.

When the chocolate has hardened, slice on a bias:

4 large bananas

and arranged them evenly.



Then pour over your caramel sauce*
*If it is too thick to pour, no problem!- just add a little more cream or warm it up slightly.







To finish, pour the rum cream topping into the centre of the pie, then smooth out with a rubber spatula or a pallet knife, working clockwise ( or counter clockwise if you wanna be a rebel!) from the center outwards.

Most importantly, remember to TASTE every ingredient and every mixture, at every step of the recipe.