Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1830) of Christina Georgina Rossetti, an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children’s poems. She is perhaps best known for her long poem “Goblin Market,” her love poem “Remember,” and for the words of the Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter.”

Today’s choice of recipe is inspired by her short poem:

Currants On A Bush

Currants on a bush,
And figs upon a stem,
And cherries on a bending bough,
And Ned to gather them.

Here’s my old Victorian favorite, Isabella Beeton.  Note that you should use fresh currants for this recipe and not dried.  You’ll probably need a friend (Ned perhaps?) who grows them for this because they are not readily available in markets.  If you use red currants and add raspberries the crust will be tinged a glorious red on the inside.  To honor the poem also note that you could make this pudding with figs or cherries, or some combination thereof.

BLACK or RED CURRANT PUDDING.

1266. INGREDIENTS.—1 quart of red or black currants, measured with the stalks, ¼ lb. of moist sugar, suet crust No. 1215, or butter crust No. 1213.

Mode.—Make, with ¾ lb. of flour, either a suet crust or butter crust (the former is usually made); butter a basin, and line it with part of the crust; put in the currants, which should be stripped from the stalks, and sprinkle the sugar over them; put the cover of the pudding on; make the edges very secure, that the juice does not escape; tie it down with a floured cloth, put it into boiling water, and boil from 2 ½ to 3 hours. Boiled without a basin, allow ½ hour less. We have allowed rather a large proportion of sugar; but we find fruit puddings are so much more juicy and palatable when well sweetened before they are boiled, besides being more economical. A few raspberries added to red-currant pudding are a very nice addition: about ½ pint would be sufficient for the above quantity of fruit. Fruit puddings are very delicious if, when they are turned out of the basin, the crust is browned with a salamander, or put into a very hot oven for a few minutes to colour it: this makes it crisp on the surface.

1215. INGREDIENTS.—To every lb. of flour allow 5 or 6 oz. of beef suet, ½ pint of water.

Mode.—Free the suet from skin and shreds; chop it extremely fine, and rub it well into the flour; work the whole to a smooth paste with the above proportion of water; roll it out, and it is ready for use. This crust is quite rich enough for ordinary purposes, but when a better one is desired, use from ½ to ¾ lb. of suet to every lb. of flour. Some cooks, for rich crusts, pound the suet in a mortar, with a small quantity of butter. It should then be laid on the paste in small pieces, the same as for puff-crust, and will be found exceedingly nice for hot tarts. 5 oz. of suet to every lb. of flour will make a very good crust; and even ¼ lb. will answer very well for children, or where the crust is wanted very plain.