pudding

when you look at these images you don't think pudding, do you? well, maybe you do if you're british or have a friend from across the pond or are for some reason familiar with steamed puddings. sticky toffee pudding, spotted dick and even bread pudding are molded desserts different in texture than regular old chocolate or tapioca pudding. i grew up with a family tradition of eating cranberry steamed pudding for dessert every christmas eve and have always loved it! we recently saw a recipe for marmalade pudding in jamie oliver's gorgeous magazine and decided to adapt it so you don't have to measure everything in grams. the slightly bitter orange flavor would be delicious with a cup of coffee in the morning, a cup of tea around 3pm or in a puddle of creme anglaise for dessert. you can find molds at garage sales, thrift stores and even brand new here. definitely worth having one in the cupboard but if you don't have one yet, you can always steam it in a coffee can.

Marmalade Pudding

serves 8-10

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup marmalade

3 eggs

in a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt. in a small saucepan, heat butter and marmalade until butter is melted. pour over dry ingredients and whisk to mix well. whisk in the eggs and stir until combined. pour into a greased pudding mold and cover tightly with a piece of greased foil. place in a large pot, slightly raised from the bottom if possible, and fill pot with boiling water about halfway up the side of the mold, being careful not to spill into the mold. bring to a boil over medium heat, cover and steam for about 2 hours. the water will need to be refilled a bit as the pudding cooks. test the pudding with a cake tester and turn out onto a dish. slice and serve warm or at room temperature. enjoy!

when life gives you oranges...

when life gives you tons and tons of extra oranges and you just cant possibly drink another glass of oj, give the gift of orange whisky marmalade. as canning has become a new part of our kitchen activities, the desire to try newer and newer foods to can every week increases. we made this tasty marmalade after the desire to have a new excuse to eat more bread. I know we all try to eat less and less carbs, but lets be honest, if you have a surplus of amazing whisky orange flavored marmalade to spread around, bread "must" be in your house. we really love this marmalade because of the natural pectin from the seeds, no added pectin! we like to put it in small canning jars to ensure that we can spread this batch around to friends and have enough to last throughout the year. we hope you enjoy!

whisky orange marmalade

2 lbs valencia oranges
2 lemons
3 tbs whisky
18 oz sugar (for every 2 cups of fruit pulp)
cut fruit in half and juice. remove seeds and place in a cheese cloth and tie with a string. cut fruit into quarters and lay skin side down. using a knife, remove remaining flesh and pith from the rind and throw away. thinly slice the rest of the rind and place is a stainless steel bowl with the juice and the seeds in the cheese cloth. add about 7 cups of water. cover and refrigerate overnight.
place all ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours or until the rinds are soft. remove seed bag and let cool a bit and using tongs, squeeze over saucepan to extract pectin. measure the amount of fruit and add the correct amount of sugar as stated in recipe ingredients above. add whisky and return to a boil. simmer for another 35-40 mins. until starting to set.
place a spoon in the freezer for testing setting stage. to test, place 2 tbs. of marmalade on cold spoon and return to freezer for 2 mins.. remove and gently move finger through the middle of the set marmalade. if it stays in two separate halves, its done. start your general canning process.