Steamed Apple Vanilla English Pudding

Despite the bad reputation that British gastronomy has, it is undeniable that pastries are tremendously rich and varied. Years ago, during my time as an English student, I discovered it and ipso facto fell for it, but it wasn't until I adopted a British family as a politician that my eyes were opened to homemade sweets. They are another world.

One of the things that most attracts my attention (and it has done so since I began to delve into the subject of British confectionery) is the preparation of steamed biscuits . The fact of not depending on the oven seems like the bomb to me, since it is a welcome alternative in the hot months when it is a horror to turn on the appliance in question.

To make a "steamed pudding", as they call it on the islands, or specifically this English steamed apple and vanilla pudding, it is necessary to have a suitable mold and a pressure cooker large enough to accommodate the first. It is also important to cover the mold well with folded parchment paper (to leave room for the cake to grow happily) and tie it well so that the water does not leak during cooking.

This type of cooking results in a juicy pudding or sponge cake , slightly more compact than that baked in the oven. For a more “British” experience , I recommend accompanying it with English cream , a vanilla scoop or a drizzle of heavy cream. Without forgetting the cup of tea, with its cloud of milk...of course!

Laura Ashley porcelain milk jug , Laura Ashley kitchen towel , Laura Ashley porcelain plates, Kitchen Craft pudding mold and Pallarès carbon steel knife .

Ingredients (for 6 people)

• half golden apple
• 6 tablespoons of honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh breadcrumbs
• 150g butter + extra to grease the mold
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 2 eggs size L (120gr)
• 150g of wheat flour
• 100g of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of chemical booster (yeast for biscuits)
• 4 tablespoons of milk
• 2 liters of boiling water

Elaboration

1. Grease a 1-litre pudding mold with a little butter, covering the base and sides well. We cover the base with the honey and spread the grated fresh bread on top. With a very sharp knife , peel, core and dice the apple and cover the base of our mold with them.
2. In a deep bowl , whiten the butter, which should be at room temperature, together with the sugar, that is, we beat vigorously until the mixture is creamy and pale.
3. Grate the whole lemon and squeeze only one half. Add the lemon zest and juice, the vanilla essence and the eggs, one by one and without incorporating the second before the first is well integrated into the dough.
4. Next we add the wheat flour along with the booster or chemical yeast. We will do it spoonful by spoonful and without adding more until the previous one is not integrated, so we can make sure that there are no lumps of flour left in the dough (which are very unpleasant to eat).
5. Finally we pour the milk, stir gently until we obtain a homogeneous mass and fill our pudding mold with it. It is a dense mass that we will need to flatten well with a spatula to distribute it over the entire surface.
6. We take a sheet of parchment paper or parchment paper and make a double fold in the center. We cover the mold with it, tie it with a cord or twine thread and cut the excess. This type of mold has a slit a couple of centimeters from the top that is perfect as a place to place the cord.
7. It is important to make sure that the cord is well tied and that there is no place for the water to sneak in, since this pudding is steamed in a pressure cooker and if water gets in, the result will be spoiled.
8. We place the bridge accessory (the trivet also works) in the base of a pressure cooker (be careful with the size, it has to be big enough to fit the mold) and pour the boiling water. We introduce the mold, close the pot and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, with the valve open.
9. After this time we close the valve of the pot in position 2 and count 20 minutes. We depressurize immediately, remove the lid and, very carefully, remove the mold from the inside of the pot. Let cool before uncovering, unmolding and serving.

Kitchen Craft pudding pan, Laura Ashley tea towel , Laura Ashley porcelain plates and Pallarès carbon steel knife .

Grades

• We can accompany the pudding with an English cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or eat it as is. Either way, it's delicious!
• You can mix the ingredients in a mixer, such as KitchenAid . In this case, you can use the rod accessory in step 2, and from there work with the flexible side beater, at not very high speeds (4 or 5).
• If you prefer to work by hand, what will suit you very well is the WMF round-tipped whisk , with it you avoid leaving lumps while mixing, and it is very comfortable to use.