19^th century

College Puddings

James Woodforde, the diarist who has told us much about food of the eighteenth century, entertained six guests at ‘New College’ Oxford on 27 July 1774: ‘We were very merry and pushed the Bottle very briskly. I gave my Company for dinner, some green Pea Soup, a chine of Mutton, some New College Puddings, a goose, some Peas and a Codlin Tart with Cream.’ ( The Diary of a Country Parson, 1758–1802.) The ‘New College Puddings’ he mentions are very possibly those Eliza Smith gave a recipe for:

To make New-College Puddings.

Grate a penny stale Loaf, and put to it a like quantity of Beef-suet finely shred, and a Nutmeg grated, a little Salt, some Currants, and then beat some Eggs in a little Sack, and some Sugar, and mix all together, and knead it as stiff as for Manchet, and make it up in the form and size of a Turkey-Egg, but a little flatter; then take a pound of Butter, and put it in a Dish, and set the Dish over a clear fire in a Chafing-dish, and rub your Butter about the dish till ’tis melted; put your Puddings in, and cover the Dish, but often turn your Puddings, until they are brown alike, and when they are enough, scrape Sugar over them and serve them up hot for a side Dish. You must let the Paste lie a quarter of an hour before you make up your puddings.

Eliza Smith, The Compleat Housewife, 1737

After this recipe, history remains silent until 1822, when William Kitchiner published his recipe explaining to us that although this pudding is usually fried, he prefers them baked in patty pans (shallow muffin tins) in the oven. He also adds ginger and candied orange or citron peel to the batter and serves the pudding with white wine sauce.

Makes 10

100 g (3½ oz/1²/₃ cups) fresh breadcrumbs

50 g (1¾ oz) shredded suet

50 g (1¾ oz) raw sugar

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

a pinch of salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons sherry or Madeira

10 g (³/₈ oz) currants, soaked in brandy, drained

1 teaspoon candied lemon peel

clarified butter, to fry

icing (confectioners’) sugar, for dusting

In a bowl combine the breadcrumbs, suet, sugar, nutmeg and salt. Add the eggs and sherry and knead into a thick dough. Don’t be alarmed if it seems too dry at first: when you knead it the dough will come together.

Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

Fold in the currants and candied lemon peel and shape the dough into balls the size of a golf ball, then flatten slightly like little burgers.

Melt a knob of clarified butter in a cast iron frying pan, and fry the flattened dough balls in the butter until browned.

Serve as a side dish, or as a snack dusted with icing sugar.