Daring Bakers: Steamed Suet Pudding

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.


This month's challenge was to make a traditional British steamed pudding, using suet, if possible. I've made steamed puddings before, especially around the holidays, but I've never used suet. That was my challenge.


I found a meat market that had suet on hand, so I stopped by and picked up half a pound.




Since it resisted crumbling, I had to render out the fat. Over slow heat, this took about two hours.




All the remaining ingredients were ready to go, so it only took minutes to mix once the rendered suet had cooled. I made a very simple pudding, using grated lime rind as a flavoring.


The steaming setup was a pot within a pot. I let it cook for three hours.





My mold is deep and the amount of batter was small, so, although the pudding rose, it didn't fill the entire mold.




It did, however, unmold quite nicely. The pudding was a bit on the crumbly side, with an interesting flavor profile that is hard to explain. I suspect it is related to the rendered suet. I had a piece with some golden syrup poured over it. I plan to make some lime sauce to complement the lime zest and I think that will hit the flavor spot.




Thanks to Esther and the Daring Bakers for another interesting challenge. For recipes and background information, do stop by Esther's blog.