Steamed Apple-Date Pudding
Submitted by dduffy
A spiced steamed pudding loaded with dates, apples, and walnuts, served warm with a silky vanilla custard sauce. An old-fashioned British-style dessert for holiday entertaining.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
1 hrsCOOK
3 hrsREADY
4 hrsThis is the kind of dessert that makes a whole room go quiet when you bring it to the table.
A dense, moist batter loaded with pureed dates, chopped apples, and walnuts, spiced with cinnamon and cloves, steams for nearly three hours until it’s rich, fragrant, and impossibly tender. Turn it out onto a platter, crown it with candied cherries, and pour warm vanilla custard sauce over every slice.
It’s old-fashioned, it’s showstopping, and it tastes like the holidays should.
Kitchen Tips
- Blend the dates with apple juice until completely smooth for a batter that’s evenly moist throughout
- Tie the foil cover tightly with string so no steam escapes during the long simmer
- Check the water level periodically and top up with boiling water so the pot never runs dry
- The custard sauce comes together in about 25 minutes; stir constantly and keep the heat low so the eggs don’t curdle
- This pudding is also wonderful with ice cream or whipped cream if you want a simpler topping
Ingredients
Directions
Heavily grease deep 2½-quart heat-safe bowl. Cut foil 1 inch large than top of bowl to use as cover. Grease 1 side of foil well; set aside.
In blender at medium speed or in food processor with knife blade attached, blend dates and apple juice until smooth; set aside.
In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat sugar and butter or margarine just until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, next 5 ingredients, and date mixture; beat at low speed until blended. Increase speed to medium; beat 1 minute, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. With rubber spatula, gently fold in chopped apple and walnuts. Spoon pudding mixture into prepared bowl. Cover bowl with foil, greased side down, tying tightly with string.
Set bowl on rack in 8 to 12 quart saucepan. Pour in water to come halfway up side of bowl, nut touching foil. Over high heat, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 2½ to 3 hours, until skewer inserted through foil into center of pudding comes out clean.
About 30 minutes before pudding is done, prepare Custard Sauce.
When pudding is done, cool in bowl on wire rack 10 minutes; loosen pudding with metal spatula and invert into warm platter. Garnish pudding with red and green candied cherries. Serve pudding warm with warm sauce.
CUSTARD SAUCE dsIn heavy 2-quart saucepan over low heat, or in double boiler over hot, not boiling, water, with wire whisk, beat egg yolks, sugar, and salt. Gradually stir in milk and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 25 minutes. Stir in vanilla extract. Serve sauce warm or cold over apple pie, fruitcake, cut-up fruit, or ice cream.
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