Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's steamed pudding recipes | British food and drink (2024)

There's an undeniable nostalgia about steamed puds. They've rather fallen out of fashion because, let's face it, they're not exactly health food. But, hey, whatever gets youthrough the month. Also, we imagine they're difficult to make, when in fact they're really very easy indeed – they just need a generous couple of hours over a bubbling pot of water; and in the case of today's steak and kidney pudding, time for the meat to cook and cool before ­being encased in its pillowy crust. But the actual amount of work ­involved is minimal.

Steamed puds look wonderfully impressive when brought out on tothe table, too, evoking the very sighs of guilty pleasure we thought we'd forsworn in January. So do givethem a go, and steam up afew ­windows into the bargain. There's nothing to see outside ­anyway; atleast not for a while.

Leek pudding

A north country favourite. Serve it alongside a roast, so the ­tender ­pastry can soak up the meat juices. Serves six as a side dish.

200g self-raising flour
100g shredded suet (beef orvegetable)
1 tsp English mustard powder
Salt and pepper
50g butter, plus more for greasing
6 slices unsmoked bacon, cut into 2cm pieces
3 leeks, white and pale green part only, washed and finely chopped
70ml double cream

Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the bacon until just golden. ­Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. In the same pan, gently sauté the leeks in the same fat until soft, move the pan from the heat and stir in the cream.

Roll out the dough into a large ­circle. Cut a quarter out of the circle. Generously butter a one-and-a-half-litre pudding basin and line it by dropping the larger piece of pastry into it, drawing together the cut sides to make a firm join. Fill with alternating layers of leeks and ­bacon. Roll out the remaining ­quarter of pastry into a circle and layit on top. Press together the edges of the pastry lid and casing toseal. Put a double layer of ­buttered, pleated foil over the top and tie in place with string. Put a large pan of water on to boil (fill the pan with enough water to come a ­little more than halfway up the side of the basin), and place a pan lid or upturned tart tin in the bottom to act as a trivet. Lower the pudding on to the makeshift trivet, cover the pot and leave bubbling away for two hours. If the water gets low, top up with boiling water.

Once cooked, remove the foil, runa knife around the edge of the pudding, turn out on to a plate and serve hot.

Steak and kidney pudding

A British classic. Serve this with some mash and steamed cabbage. Serves six to eight.

4 tbsp oil or fat
1kg beef skirt or chuck, cut into generous cubes
60g plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
400g beef kidneys, cored and cut into bite-sized chunks
150ml red wine
1 onion, peeled, halved and finelysliced
200g large mushrooms, brushed gently to clean and thickly sliced
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 tsp English mustard
1 bay leaf
About 700ml beef stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
350g self-raising flour
135g shredded beef suet
1¼ tsp baking powder

Warm a little more oil in the frying pan and sweat the onion until soft. Add these to the meat mix, along with the mushrooms, tomato purée, mustard, bay leaf and just enough stock to cover. Place the pot over amedium heat, bring to a bare ­simmer and cook gently for an hour and a half. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Cool.

Mix the flour, suet and baking powder with some salt and pepper. Stir in 200-240ml of cold water to form a firm dough, then roll out and cut as in the preceding recipe, and use to line a two-litre buttered ­pudding basin. Spoon in the filling, top with the pastry lid, seal by ­pressing together the edges and cover with adouble layer of ­buttered foil.

Bring a large pot of ­water to a boil, place a pan lid or ­upturned tart tin inthe bottom, to act as a trivet, andsimmer gently, as in the first recipe, for oneand a half hours. Serve straight from the basin, or turn out on to a plate as above.

Lemon sponge pudding

The lemon and sugar in this dish form asweet, tangy goo that trickles down the sides of the pudding whenyou turn it out. To ring the changes, try a few ­generous ­spoonfuls of jam instead of the ­lemony syrup, or add some choppedstem ginger, plus a little ofthe syrup from the ginger jar, both to thelemon syrup and to the batter. Serves four to six.

Generously butter an 850ml ­pudding basin. Stir together the juice of one lemon and the ­muscovado until the sugar ­dissolves, then tip it into the basin.

Cream together the butter, lemonzest and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in one egg at atime, ­adding a spoonful of flour with each.Fold in the remaining flour and stir in the rest of the lemonjuice. Spoon the batter into the ­basin – the ­lemony syrup in the­bottom will rise up the sides; it'smeant to, so don't stir it into thebatter.

• Come and join the River Cottage team for a four course feast of the finest produce the West Country has to offer. For details of our regular Friday night dinners, go to rivercottage.net.