PUDDINGS. The word pudding denotes a sweet dish; it is also used in connection with meat, but then its use is restricted to meat boiled or steamed inside a case of suet pastry (see COOKERY and PASTRY : Home-made).
The following recipes are for typical British puddings : Milk Puddings: Allow 4oz. of rice (Carolina), sago or tapioca to one quart of milk, 1 tablespoonful of sugar or more to taste and a pinch of salt. Grease a pie dish. Put into it the cereal, add salt, sugar and milk and, if liked, a grate of nutmeg, or keep a piece of stick vanilla in the sugar jar and so obtain a flavour of vanilla. Stir well, and then occasionally for the first hour. If a dessert spoonful of butter or a little cream is stirred in after the first hour the pudding will be better. Cool oven. Time 3 hours.
Variations of milk puddings which are cooked on the hot plate and served cold are : Creamed Rice, Tapioca or Sago (cold) : 20Z. of rice, tapioca or sago, cream, I pint of milk, powdered chocolate or other garnish. Cook the cereal in the milk in a double pan until quite soft and thick, sweeten and flavour to taste. Spread in a glass dish : when cold cover with cream or custard and garnish with powdered chocolate, hundreds and thousands, or cherries and angelica.
General Directions for Steamed Puddings: Grease the basin, allow room for the mixture to swell, and cover with a greased paper; the reason for this covering is that steam condenses on the inner side of the lid of the pan, and would drip into the pudding and make it heavy if it were not protected. The water must be boiling in the outer pan or steamer when the pudding is put in and must be kept boiling steadily. Be sure the water does not boil away, and add more boiling water if necessary.
Plain Suet Pudding (with bread crumbs) : Use recipe No. I but allow 4oz. flour and 2 to 3oz. fine stale bread crumbs.
Richer Suet Pudding: Proceed as in No. 2 but allow 3 to 4oz. suet and add I egg and milk instead of water. Beat egg into the milk.
Roly-Poly, Treacle, Jam or Sultana: Mixture for suet pudding I or 2 ; treacle, bread crumbs, lemon. When the dough is mixed roll it out on a floured board in a long thin strip. Spread with syrup thickened with bread crumbs and flavoured with lemon. Roll up, seal the ends well, tie in a scalded floured cloth, and put into a pan of boiling water. Boil steadily for about 3 hours. Untie the cloth and put the pudding on a hot dish. Slice it and it with castor sugar. For jam roll proceed as above but use jam and omit bread crumbs as the jam does not need thickening.
For sultana roll add 3oz. clean, dry, floured sultanas to the pud ding mixture.
Boiled Fruit Pudding (hot) : Suet crust (see PASTRY, HOME MADE) fruit, sugar. Roll out the crust two or three times and let it stand a little after rolling. Line a greased basin with it, fill with prepared fruit and sugar (if the fruit is dry add a little water) put on a cover of paste and press the edges together. Tie in a scalded floured cloth and boil for 14 hours, or steam for 3 to 31 hours with a greased paper tied over the top.
Christmas Puddings: The "king's empire recipe" for Christmas pudding contains the following ingredients, the proportions of which may be taken as standard : 211b. currants, 211b. sultanas, 211b. stoned raisins, ilb. minced apple, 21-lb. bread crumbs, 21-1b. beef suet, Ilb, cut candied peel, 141b. flour, iilb. Demarara sugar, 10 eggs, 'oz. ground cinnamon, ioz. ground cloves, 4oz. ground nutmeg, 2 teaspoonful pudding spice, 2 gill brandy, 1 gill rum, I quart old beer.
Chop suet very finely, add flour and bread crumbs, fruit (washed, dried and floured), candied peel chopped fine, spice, lemon rind, sugar and eggs Over all pour the liquids, stir well and put all aside to swell and blend until next day, then put mixture into a basin, filling it quite full, tie a scalded floured cloth over it, making a pleat in the cloth to allow for the pudding swelling, put into a pan of boiling water and boil for 6 hours at least. The pudding should then be hung up in a cool dry place and re-boiled for 2 hours when needed.
To scald a dip it into boiling water and squeeze it dry and then dredge flour over it.
Sunday Plum Pudding (hot) : flour, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, 6oz. suet, 2lb. sultanas, 2 eggs, 2 teacupful golden syrup, a little milk. Mix according to directions, but steam at once for 4 hours in a greased basin. This pudding is a deep golden brown, light and crumbly when well made.
Sponge Pudding: 4oz. flour, 3oz. sugar, 20Z. butter, 2 eggs, I teaspoonful baking powder, milk. Cream butter and sugar together, add each egg, separately. Beat well, stir in flour and baking powder lightly, add milk until mixture drops easily from the spoon. Pour into greased mould, steam for about i hour and serve with jam or custard sauce. (D. C. PE.) PUDDING-WIFE. A tropical American fish of the wrasse family (Labridae), called also doncella. It has a deep, compressed body, which is covered with large scales except on the head, has strong canine teeth in the front part of the jaw, and attains a length of 18 inches. In colour the pudding-wife is a vivid blue green tinged with bronze or soft orange, though varying some what with sex and age. Spots and streaks of blue, especially on the head, fins and through the eye, add to its attractive appearance.