I have to admit that I was a little clueless when I came across great- great- grandma's recipe for "Steamed Chocolate Pudding" on page 37 of one of her journals (as shown in the image below). Why is the pudding steamed? How do you even steam pudding? Needless to say, this recipe has been on the back-burner (pun intended) for a long time...until now!
I figured now is as good of a time than ever to figure out steamed pudding. I pulled out her recipe and then proceeded to do a little research. First of all, to steam pudding you need a special pan like this one. It's a pudding mold that allows you to set it into a boiling pot of water (not completely but a few inches deep) to steam the batter. The batter is much like that of cake, more so than pudding. Although it's a very spongey and rich cake.
Steamed pudding has roots back to the 17th century in England, but became a popular dish to make in the United States around the 1930s. You may have even unknowingly sung about steamed pudding at Christmas...when you recited the lyrics "so bring us some figgy pudding" from the famous song "We Wish you a Merry Christmas". Figgy pudding = steamed pudding. Who knew? Well, maybe you did but not me!
I suppose you could say it is Christmas in July on Family to Table and we're serving up some figgy pudding. From my family to your table - enjoy!
*Get these ingredients at your Illinois farmers market!
INGREDIENTS
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp butter
2 eggs, beaten*
1 cup whole milk
2 cups flour*
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 ounces of chocolate, melted*
DIRECTIONS
Place in the base of a large stock pot a small dish towel that's been folded several times or if you have one, drop a round rack in the base of the pot. The purpose is to prevent your pudding mold from touching the bottom of the pot and to allow it to remain standing straight during the steaming process.
Then, fill that stock pot with enough water to cover the pudding mold just past the halfway point and start the water to boil while you prepare the batter.
Blend the sugar and butter.
Gently beat the eggs and add to the butter/sugar mixture.
Stir in milk
Sift the flour and baking powder and gradually add to the butter mixture.
Melt the chocolate and fold it into the mixture.
Pour the batter into a generously buttered steamed pudding mold.
Gently place the mold into onto the rack or towel in the stock pot.
Reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and simmer for an hour.
When done, gently remove the pudding mold from the water bath, remove the lid, and invert the pudding mold onto a wire rack positioned over a cookie sheet.
Let sit for a few minutes before cutting to serve.
Serve with warm whipped cream, ice cream, marshmallow sauce, or your favorite topping!