Steamed Brown Pudding

My mother used to make a steamed brown pudding (usually only when we had a guest to dinner) and I know it contained jam, but when I asked her for the recipe she had long lost it and forgotten how to make it. This is the nearest I have managed to come to it, though I do know hers didn’t include dates.

60g butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup jam or marmalade (I used home-made Black Doris plum jam)
3/4 cup dates, chopped fine
1-1/2 cups milk
1 tsp bicarb (dissolved in the milk)
1/1-2 tsp vanilla essence (I used only 1 because it was home-made)
1/1-2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Melt butter, with the sugar, jam and dates, in a small saucepan. Add to the milk and bicarb, add the vanilla and mix well. Sift the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar over this and mix well. Pour into a greased 6-cup basin, top with greaseproof paper and a double layer of aluminium foil, tucking this well into the sides of the basin. Steam for four hours. Most “spongy” puddings are cooked after 1-1/2 to 2 hours but when I tested this after two hours I found it still rather sticky. Maybe it’s because I keep the heat under the saucepan as low as it will go. Anyway, after four hours’ cooking everyone pronounced this pudding as perfect so I am going to continue cooking it for that length of time. Other dried fruit can probably be used instead of dates but I have yet to try variations on this particular recipe.

Serves at least six.

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