English Suet Pudding from Martha Washington’s Recipe

Erma, I knew you would work in your bourbon in your Simple Sponge Cake recipe.

Here is a late fall or winter recipe that I ran across in one of my colonial cookbooks. This is the kind of thing that colonial cooks often called a cake before the day of ovens in stoves. This is supposed to be a somewhat modernized version of Martha Washington’s original recipe.

English Suet Pudding:

1 cup ground beef suet
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups of milk
1 cup of raisins

Blend the suet and sugar together in a stand mixer on slow speed until well blended. Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. Mix and flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate adding flour and milk. Finally stir in the raisins. Pour into a well greased 2 quart mold. If no tight cover for your mold, use aluminum foil to make a tight fit.

In a large kettle with a lid, place a trivet or cooking rack, and add 2 inches of boiling water to the kettle. Place the mold on the cooking rack, cover the kettle and steam 1 ½ hours. Add additional boiling water as needed.

Check the pudding for doneness before removing from the kettle as the shape of the mold can effect the time needed to cook. Let stand several minutes and then slip out of the mold. Serve with a hot lemon or vanilla sauce, or slice and serve with cream cheese.

Make about 12 servings.