Captain Ron's

Sailing and Cruising Pages

Mary Litchfield Grimwood

(circa 1890)

 This was copied off the internet ... haven't tried it yet.

  4 1/2 c  All-purpose flour*; sifted

      4 ts baking powder

      1 ts baking soda

    1/2 ts salt

      2 ts cinnamon

      1 ts Allspice

    1/2 ts Cloves

    1/4 ts Nutmeg

      1    Box Muscat raisins; seeded

      1    Box seedless nectar raisins or -- (golden raisins)

           -or-

      1    Box sultanas

      1    Box currants

      2 c  Finely chopped apples

  1 1/2 c  Chopped black walnuts and pecans; mixed

      1 lb Good beef suet  -- ground by butcher

      2 c  Light brown sugar

      6    Eggs; well beaten

  1 1/2 c  Buttermilk

      1 c  Soft fresh bread crumbs - from homemade-type bread

  *Plus additional flour for dusting fruits and adding to batter if

  needed.

  Grease and flour six 1-pound coffee cans or pudding molds.

  Sift the 4 1/2 cups flour with next 7 dry ingredients into a large

  bowl. In a separate bowl, dust the raisins, currants, apples and nuts

  with 2 tablespoons additional flour.

  Mix together the suet, brown sugar, eggs and buttermilk.  Add the suet

  mixture gradually to the sifted dry ingredients, mixing well.  Add

  fruits and bread crumbs; mix until well-blended.  (If batter is not

  stiff, stir in additional flour as needed.)

  Divide mixture among prepared cans or molds, filling them half full.

  Cover each with a double sheet of waxed paper and tie down securely.

  Pressure cooker: Place hot water in the bottom of a large pressure

  cooker/canner, using enough to reach a level just below the bottom of

  a steaming rack.  Place cans or molds on the rack.  Cover the pressure

  canner and steam the puddings 20 minutes with the vent tube (or

  petcock) open.  Then attach the automatic pressure control or close

  the petcock and cook for 50 minutes at 10 lbs. pressure.  Remove the

  pressure cooker from heat.  When pressure is completely reduced, open

  and remove the puddings from the cooker.

  Regular steamer: In a large stockpot or boiling water bath canner, add

  water to come up just below the bottom of the steaming rack.  Add

  puddings, cover and steam for 6 hours, adding water as necessary to

  keep from boiling dry.  It helps if the lid is tight-fitting; if not,

  try putting a weight on the lid to keep it down, or cover the pot rim

  with a strip of aluminum foil to help the lid fit more tightly.

  To serve, slice and re-steam in the top of a double boiler over

  simmering water until hot, about 1 hour.  Serve with hard sauce and

  whipped cream flavored with brandy.

  This pudding will keep for months in the refrigerator or may be

  frozen up to one year.