Steamed Chocolate Pudding & Steamed Apple n Caramel Pudding for Daring Bakers April 2010 - My First Challenge

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.

How can a vegetarian household like mine use animal fat??? My very first challenge and I might have to skip it.... then ray of light shone when I read that the required elements of this challenge are:
1) to make a suet pudding using real suet or as close a replacement as you can manage or is acceptable to you; and
2) to cook it by steaming or if you want to be even more traditional by boiling tied up in a cloth.
The rest was upto us...

It was ok to use butter :) Yipppeeee... Started reading up on the technique of steaming and English puddings...... Found some useful info here. Mommy was also of great help by fishing out the the vessels to steam in.... Thanks mom :)

Presenting to you 'Steamed Chocolate Pudding'.... Must admit... It was quite a task getting this together... More than anything else... Overcoming the mental block of this new task.... Baking and no oven.... 'Put a lid on it'.... now has a new meaning for me :)

That's Daksyani and Rhea with Honey masi..... They loved the pudding... yippeee.... :)
Daks was a bit upset with me though for making chocolate as she's allergic to it...promised her to make something else soon.....

The poser that Daks is..... lots of pics with everyone :) She's a total delight...

Steamed Chocolate Pudding
adapted from Martha Stewart's site

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6.

1/2 cup sugar
1 salt
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts, as garnish
Method

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 5-cup pudding bowl, and set aside.
2. Combine 5 tablespoons sugar with salt, flour, and cocoa in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Combine chocolate and butter in a heat-proof bowl, and melt over simmering water.


4. In a small saucepan, bring milk just to a simmer. Immediately add to chocolate mixture. Beat egg yolks. Stir a little chocolate mixture into yolks; add yolks to mixture. Add vanilla; stir until well combined. Stir into flour mixture.
5. Beat whites with remaining 3 tablespoons sugar until stiff, and fold into batter. Pour into pudding bowl, and place on a rack in a deep roasting pan. Pour boiling water into pan halfway up the sides of the bowl.

6. Bake until pudding is set, 40 to 45 minutes. Add boiling water to pan as necessary to maintain water level.
7. Let cool slightly in the bowl, and invert onto a plate. Garnish with hazelnuts. [Didn't feel like using nuts, wanted some colour.. added sprinkles instead. garnish with whatever is your calling]

While searching for recipes I remembered that it's Puneet's Birthday around the same time.... So did another steamed pudding for him, 'Steamed Apple n Caramel Pudding'.....
Happy Birthday, Puneet....

In the evening we went out to watch the IPL finals between the Chennai and Mumbai teams at News Cafe in Vasant Kunj with Snigdha. We were joined by friends Sid, Ankita and my sister and her friend, parul aswell.... am sure she came cause she wanted to taste the stuff she assisted me in cooking... LOL.... :)

We had so much fun.... All of us thumping and rooting at every 6, 4 and Wicket....

Caramel Apple Steamed Pudding
adapted from Martha Stewart's site

Ingredients
Serves 8 to 10.

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
9 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs [Used 3 as i didn't have molasses]

1/4 cup molasses [ Didn't have access so I used some extra sugar here]

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup bread crumbs [Didn't have... Substituted with a cup of biscuit crumbs]

Method

1. Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a small, heavy saucepan; set over medium heat. Cover, and cook until sugar has melted. Remove cover, and continue cooking, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar turns a deep amber. Carefully pour caramel into pudding mold; tip so caramel coats mold evenly. Set mold aside.
2. Place half of the apple chunks in a small saucepan, and add 2 tablespoons water, 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Place saucepan over low heat, and cook, covered, until apples fall apart, 10 to 12 minutes. Uncover, and cook 5 minutes more, stirring often. Set the applesauce aside.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saute pan; add remaining apple chunks and remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Cook over medium-high heat until apples turn brown on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes. Place apples in the bottom of the mold, distributing evenly so they reach up the sides.
4. Choose a pot large enough to hold the pudding mold with a 2-inch space all around. Place a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel in the bottom of pot; fill with enough water to reach halfway up sides of mold. Cover pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.
5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together 8 tablespoons butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs and molasses; mix well. Add the reserve applesauce, and mix well.
6. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir in breadcrumbs. Add to the applesauce mixture. Stir batter until just combined.
7. Fill pudding mold with batter; clamp on lid. Place mold in a pot of simmering water. Cover pot, and cook until a toothpick inserted into middle of pudding comes out clean, about 1 hour 40 minutes. Check water often, keeping it at a steady, low simmer. Transfer mold to a wire rack to cool, 15 minutes.
Tip
There are just two rules when it comes to cooking steamed puddings. Never top up the simmering water with cold water as it'll cause a huge drop in temperature; and don't be tempted to remove the lid during the first 30 minutes of cooking or your pudding will sink.
8. When ready to serve, invert the pudding onto a serving plate. If any of the apple chunks stick to the mold, remove them, and rearrange them on the top; slice.

Butterscotch is one of Puneet's fav icecreams.... topped the pudding with some butterscotch sauce....

Verdict:
Steamed Chocolate Pudding:

SMS from Snigdha says 'I need to kiss ur hands!!!!!! The pudding is lipsmackingly delicious. My mom was like it's professional n dad loved it. I am ur no.1 fan!'
Girlie.. love you too... Thank you.... Will make some more and send it for you.

Steamed Apple n Caramel Pudding:

Was a tad bit dryier than what I like... Guess my susbstitution had something to do with it.... The spices did such amazing magic with the apples... Delighful taste... and Puneet loved it.... :)

Thank you Esther[The Lilac Kitchen] for this wonderful challenge :)