there's a scene from the animated version of Raymond Briggs' "father christmas": this irascible santa is home from his grueling night, and he is setting a steamed pudding, wrapped up with cloth, on the stove top . i've been intrigued by it since, and did try a christmas one heavy with nuts and fruits and brandy. it was really delicious but quite rich and strong flavored. when i saw this recipe yesterday i just had to try it. like today. braving the snow and ice and cold trudging down the lane...ooops. wrong scene. i hunted down the lyle's golden syrup in the international foods section and made this for today's dessert (sssh. husband's experimenting with his fishball/pork skin curry saute...we'll see how it turns out.)
the recipe is here.
after an hour and a half of steaming, let "pudding" stand for 5 minutes...
...then invert into a serving plate. looks a bit like..."friar tuck's" head. the bald spot is from a stuck patch of Lyle's golden pudding. next time i'm adding more syrup to the bottom of the dish so that it will cascade down the sides of the cake.
slice into wedges and drizzle heavy cream on top.
it was heavenly: creamy, not too sweet and greatly complemented by the golden syrup.
chef celia of english patis has a scrumptious chocolate version.
