To bake often it would be more fun to do it with some project in mind.
British baking is always intriguing to me. I’ve been fascinated by English pies and puddings in story books and pictures from when I was a kid.
British baking is always intriguing to me. I’ve been fascinated by English pies and puddings in story books and pictures from when I was a kid.
One thing always puzzles me in the British baking is suet.
Suet is the fat of cows and mutton, and I couldn’t really imagine how it would be integrated in pastries - it seems to be a good time to challenge baking with suet!
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| Shredded suet |
I used a recipe of 19th century beef pudding from Regula Ysewijn’s Pride and Pudding.
Suet for baking can’t be any fat. It has to be the specific hard fat found around kidneys and its higher melting point of between 113 and 122F makes it ideal for cooking, creating a light texture without burning quickly.
Fortunately the butcher we contacted knew exactly what we were looking for.
Suet for baking can’t be any fat. It has to be the specific hard fat found around kidneys and its higher melting point of between 113 and 122F makes it ideal for cooking, creating a light texture without burning quickly.
Fortunately the butcher we contacted knew exactly what we were looking for.
To make the suet dough mix suet and dry ingredients well then add liquid.
Roll out the dough then place it in the mold.
Add the beef filling, pour the beer and cover with the leftover dough.
Steam for one hour.
I thought the dough would be very greasy since it was made with beef fat, and didn’t grease the mold thinking the fatty dough would be easy to be removed from the mold. Mistake.
The dough wasn’t greasy and it stuck inside the mold.
It took a big crack on the pudding to take it out from the mold but the flavor was surprisingly good.
It took a big crack on the pudding to take it out from the mold but the flavor was surprisingly good.
The combination of the beef filling and the dough tasted ... like Chinese buns (and I love Chinese buns)!
JC opened Producteurs Plaimont Saint Mont 2016
He bought this Tannat-based red blend wine from southwest France at Costco. It’s not easy to find affordable Tannat here.
It was full-bodied wine with fruits somehow overshadowed by the strong structure.
It wouldn’t be a kind of wine to enjoy by itself but was good with the strong flavor of the pudding.
I'm overall satisfied with the suet in savory pudding project.
Next time I’d like to try making sweet pudding with suet.
I'm overall satisfied with the suet in savory pudding project.
Next time I’d like to try making sweet pudding with suet.
