January - Hot winter puds !
Just as in summer, fruits and berries acknowledge seasonal temperatures, so too does winter with its cold chills remind us that it's time to use the season's special produce.
Old-fashioned classics like steamed puddings, hot souffls and bread puddings, as well as fruit pies, spring to mind, while chocolate desserts are always there to fall back on.
Winter puddings don't necessarily have to be heavy either, and you can serve a simple homemade ice-cream or sorbet with a steamed pudding, instead of heavy custards and creams, which gives a delicious hot-cold taste, like summer and winter combined.
Food fads may come and go, but on a cold winter's day there is nothing to beat the comfort and luxury of a steaming 'hot pud', so enjoy my choice of puddings for January.
LEMON SPONGE SOUFFL
An easy little pudding which doesn't use much in the way of ingredients, and has surprising results.
Serves 2-3 (Just double the quantities for a larger pudding)
Ingredients: 25g butter. 1 teacup sugar. 2 tablespoons self-raising flour. 2 eggs. Rind and juice of 1 lemon. Teacup of milk. Method: Cream together the butter, sugar and flour. Stir in beaten egg yolks, lemon rind, lemon juice and milk. Fold in stiffly beaten whites of the 2 eggs. Pour into an ovenproof dish and bake in preheated oven 150-170C, 300-325F, Gas Mark 2-3 for 40 minutes. The pudding separates into two layers, a spongy cake on top, and a bottom layer of creamy lemon sauce.
APRICOT, PECAN AND PEAR PUDDING
Serves 8.
Ingredients for the topping: 50g butter. 50g light muscovado sugar. 50g pecan halves, roughly chopped. 110g ready-to-eat dried apricots, roughly chopped.
Ingredients for the pudding: 275g self-raising flour. 110g butter cut into small cubes. 110g light muscovado sugar. 1 pear, grated. 2 eggs beaten. 4floz milk.
Method: To make the topping, lightly mix the ingredients, then spoon into a buttered 1.5 litre/2 pint pudding basin. To make the pudding, measure the flour into a bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and pear, and then add the eggs and milk and mix to a soft batter. Spoon over the topping and level the surface. Cover with greaseproof paper and foil, then steam for 1 -2 hours until firm to the touch. Turn out and serve with ice cream or fromage frais.
ROASTED RHUBARB TART
Now that the first of January's forced rhubarb is appearing on market stalls and in local shops, this is just the recipe to show off those jewelled pink stalks.
Serves 6-8.
Ingredients: 1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry. of a small packet of white marzipan. About 350g young rhubarb. 2 tablespoons demerara sugar. Method: Heat oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Lay the pastry on a baking sheet and score 1cm in around the edge without cutting through. Grate the marzipan over the inner part of the pastry. Cut the rhubarb into 2 inch lengths and place in rows over the marzipan. Sprinkle over the sugar and bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden and the rhubarb tender. Serve warm, rather than straight from the oven, with cream, or crme frache. Alternatively you can cut the pastry into 6 and make individual tarts.
JAM ROLY-POLY (with real custard)
A firm favourite at any time of the year, but this pudding really comes into its own during the cold winter months.
Serves 4-6.
Ingredients: 225g self-raising flour. 6-8 tablespoons water. Pinch of salt. 4 tablespoons raspberry jam, warmed. 110g shredded suet. 1 egg, beaten. Caster sugar to glaze, a little milk. Method: Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt. Add the suet and sufficient water to create a soft but not sticky dough. Turn onto a floured board and roll out to a rectangle of about 8" x 12". Brush the pastry with the warmed jam, leaving a inch border all round. Fold in this border and brush with milk. With the short side towards you, roll up the pastry loosely and seal the ends well. Place on a greased baking sheet, with the sealed edges underneath. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake in preheated oven 200C, 400F, Gas Mark 6 for 35-40 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle with a little more sugar and serve hot with custard. Real custard is made by bringing 8floz milk and 5 floz double cream slowly to the boil. Whisk 2 egg yolks and 1 oz caster sugar until pale and creamy, then pour on the milk and cream and whisk well. Return to the pan and place over a gentle heat and stir continuously until thick.
COMING IN THIS MONTH:
Look out for the first RHUBARB of the season, which continues until Easter. The early forced rhubarb is specially delicate and tender but, like all rhubarb, it needs careful cooking and plenty of sugar.
Brussel sprouts are still around and can be enjoyed even after Christmas.
Parsnips, excellent now, as well as other root crops…turnips, swedes and celeriac. And old potatoes are a good buy – budget suppers based on spuds spring to mind here.
British eating apples and pears are nearing the end of their season, though Bramleys will see us through the year. Always choose British fruit if you have the chance – foreign imports are often designed to undercut our own crops, even when they have nothing like the taste or freshness.
Lastly, the Seville oranges' short season will begin this month, time to get your preserving pan at the ready for a session of marmalade making.
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Weather for Sudbury
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
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