Patriotic British Puds

I do like a good pud, great for cold nights in Winter when we're all feeling rather dreary and yearning for Spring. I like rich, elaborate puddings but can't be bothered faffing most of the time. I want to feed myself and my family a decent pud that won't cost much, has a bit of fruit in it, and doesn't take forever to prepare. Here are some of my favourite puds that are proper British fare.

Spotted Dick

I musts admit I do snigger when I hear the name of this pudding, immature I know.  You see back in NZ the name of this pudding would probably be slang for an unfortunate medical condition rather than a dessert.  However, it is a tasty and cheap pudding which is great for keeping to our Meal Plan and budget.  I vary the dried fruit which is probably not the done thing but is fab for using up leftover packets of dried fruit in my store cupboard.

75g self raising flour

75g chopped suet
50g fresh white breadcrumbs
150g mixed dried fruit
50g light soft brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp mixed spice
300ml milk

Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix them together until really well combined. Add the milk and mix to a fairly soft dough.

Put the mixture into a greased 1.2 litre pudding basin and cover with kitchen foil, making a pleat across the centre to allow room for the pudding to rise.  Tie the foil firmly in place with string, forming a handle across the top so that you can lift the pudding out of the saucepan easily once it has been cooked.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and put an upside down saucer in the bottom.  Lower the pudding basin into the saucepan of boiling water and let it boil with the lid on for 2 hours.  Check the pan of boiling water occasionally and top up the level of boiling water, if necessary.

Remove the pudding basin from the pan using the string handle.  Unwrap it and serve it with lashings of custard.  Or, if you are my husband who doesn't like custard (weird, I know!), serve it with icecream instead.

Jam Roly Poly

This is my husbands favourtie pudding at the moment, he is almost addicted to it.  Normally he is a chocoholic but this pudding has turned him! LOL  It is cheap to make and I normally put it in the oven whilst I use the hob to cook dinner, great for warming up the house on cold evenings.  I use homemade jam in my pudding but any jam will do and you could use whatever flavour of jam takes your fancy.

125g butter, softened

2 cups plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
approx 250ml milk
approx 1/2 cup of jam

Syrup:
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup boiling water
75g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 22cm x 9cm ovenproof dish. Rub the butter into the flour and baking powder until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre of the crumb mixtire and then add enough milk to make a soft dough.  Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently bring it together.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out until it's about 1cm thick.  Spread jam over the dough leaving a 1cm jam free edge all the way round the dough.  Roll up just like a Swiss roll and put it in the greased ovenproof dish.

Make the syrup by stirring together the sugar, water and butter until everything has dissolved and pour the syrup over the roll.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes until roll is golden and well risen.  Serve with custard or icecream.

Fruit crumble - Serves 5

About 4 cups of cooked fruit
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup muesli
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tblsp butter

Preheat oven to 180C.

Put the cooked fruit into a baking dish. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and ground ginger.

Mix the rolled oats, flour, muesli and brown sugar in a bowl until well combined. Rub in the butter with your fingertips. The mixture will become lumpy and crumbly. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the topping is crisp and golden. I normally serve this with homemade custard or s drizzle of cream.

Baked Apples - Serves 6

6 apples
1 cup mixed dried fruit, eg sultanas, dates, apricots
1 Tblsp brown sugar
1 Tblsp butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup (125ml) water

Preheat oven to 180C.

Core the apples, but leave the base intact to hold in the filling. If you want to you can score a line through the apple skin all the way around the apple, about half way up, this will help stop the apples from splitting in the oven. Mix the dried fruit, brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon together in a bowl. Carefully spoon the dried fruit mixture into the apples. Put the apples in a baking dish with the water. Bake for about 35 minutes or until the apples are soft.

So what are your favourite British Puds?