Another Old Recipe from the File

January Pudding

 I’ll admit that I haven’t tried this in many years, but I remember it well. It’s an old Irish recipe, given me by a friend, and I’ve always been charmed by its sturdy simplicity.  (It is, of course, the yang to the yin of summer pudding, made with fresh raspberries and currants, slices of bread and always served with a generous swoosh of cream.) 

Cream a half cup of sweet butter with a half cup of brown sugar.  Beat in 2 eggs and 2 large tablespoons of raspberry jam.  Fold in a cup of flour that’s been sifted with a half teaspoon of baking soda.  Put it into a well-buttered 1-quart mold. Stand the mold in  pot with enough boiling water to come two thirds up its sides and steam it for 2 hours, covered. The water should remain at a simmer, but check every now and then to make sure that the water has not boiled away.

(If you don’t have a mold use a small bowl. Cover it with buttered parchment paper and then two layers of aluminum foil securely tied with a string.)

Serve it with a sauce made by stirring a half cup of raspberry jam into a quarter cup of water and heating over low heat until the jam has dissolved.  Stir in the juice of one lemon.