Hi friends! Just a day after this years Yule and a few days out from Christmas, regardless of what you celebrate during this winter months, we're gonna be cooking a tangy tango between two traditional english staples-
Yule Plum Pudding and Wassail from Lord of the Rings Online!
(You can find the cooking instructions and full ingredient list under the break-)
MY NAMES CROSS NOW LETS COOK LIKE ANIMALS
SO, “what goes in to this Yule Plum Pudding?” YOU MAY ASKPlum Pudding is not a "pudding" as us americans think of it; its closer to a fruitcake but less shit.
Cranberries
White raisins
Macerated prunes (in brandy)
Chopped candied peel
Blanched almonds
All-purpose flour
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cloves
Sugar
Breadcrumbs
Lemon zest
Unsalted butter
Eggs
Whole milk
Half a bottle of brandy
It also doesnt contain any capital-P plums! "Plum" here is just referring to any dried fruit.
And what about the birth of todays wassail?
4 cooking apples
2 pears
Brown sugar
Cinnamon sticks
2 lemons
A bottle of sherry
The other half bottle of brandy
Wassail is very similar to apple cider drank in the fall, with a few differences like the addition of pears and different alcohol source. It was commonly drank while "wassailing" which was a Yuletide predecessor to christmas carolling. People would go door-to-door with a big bowl of wassail, play music, and give well wishes- offering drinks from the wassail in return for small gifts!
AND, “what does Yule Plum Pudding and Wassail taste like?” YOU MIGHT ASK
The puddings like a fruitcake but if a fruit cake tasted good and wasnt a brick
Its thick and rich, and somehow actually tastes like plum despite that not being intended or making sense
I love the macerated prunes so much. Juicy berries to forage for. Enrichment
The icings reminiscent of buttercream but more savory than sweet
The wassail is like drinking the golden edges off the clouds at sunset
Its got a little bit of the dryness from the sherry that makes your mouth water the moment you stop drinking it
You just want to keep drinking more to sate yourself
Even without eggs its surprisingly full bodied and thick
I had to make a few substitutions from traditional elements due to either being not available or too expensive, but with a little problem-solving nothing was too hard to do.
. Used a bundt cake pan instead of a pudding tin
. Suet (animal fat) was historically used for plum pudding. I couldnt find any and used butter instead
. Used golden delicious apples when called for
. Used concorde pears when called for
. Some wassail recipes fold in egg whites before serving, to make the drink creamier. I didnt do this, but if you do, the recommendation to drink it fresh still stands (and strongly)
I gotta admit, I was nervous approaching this recipe.
Not only because I didn't own and couldnt find a "pudding tin" without ordering online, or because the concept of steaming a pastry(?) feels foreign and odd, but also because of how old and storied this dish is. You always run into the issue with historical foods who date back to the times where oral history was the only history. The issue of people being combative that their recipe is the only true variant of the recipe, and all the others are mucking the whole thing up.
Its good to remember that like with most dishes, cooking is something that evolved and continues to evolve overtime. Unless someones trying to rewrite history and claim that ants on a log is a creme brule in which case you should run them over with a '98 Pontiac Sunfire.
Theres a few things I'd do differently when cooking again, like chopping the blanched almonds. They were a bit too big when left whole. And adding some amount of heavy cream to the icing? Maybe? To give it a fluffier/milkier feel? But the proces of cooking itself was very straightforward and I have no real complaints or modifications to make. When having leftovers of the pudding it did seem to "mature" and taste better and better the more days i kept it in the fridge, so thats something to keep in mind! But it tastes great a day after all the same.
I give this recipe a solid 10/10 (with 1 being food that makes one physically sick and 10 being food that gives one a lust for life again.) Happy winter everyone! Congrats to another year of staying alive!
🐁 ORIGINAL RESIPPY TEXT BELOW 🐁
Yule Plum Pudding Ingredients:
16oz cranberries
12oz white raisins
9oz macerated prunes
4oz chopped candied peel (any fruit)
2oz blanched, chopped almonds
4oz all-purpose flour
Measure spices with your heart (cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves)
8oz granulated sugar
8oz fresh white breadcrumbs
lemon zest (one lemon)
4oz grated unsalted butter
4 eggs
8oz whole milk
Pudding Icing Ingredients:
1½oz unsalted butter
1½oz all-purpose flour
10½oz whole milk
3oz granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brandy
Yule Plum Pudding Method:
A week before making, macerate your prunes in brandy.
Mix together all the dried fruit, peel, and almonds. Sieve flour and spices together then add to the fruit mixture along with the sugar, breadcrumbs, rind, and grated butter.
Beat eggs and then blend with 8oz of milk.
Stir the egg/milk mixture to incorporate into the dry ingredients. Add prunes, and stir some more.
Put batter into a well-buttered pudding basin, with parchment paper to cover.
Get a large pot and place a kitchen towel or something similar at the bottom- then place the pudding basin on top of the towel, inside the large pot.
Fill the outer pot with water until it’s halfway up the side, cover the pot with a lid (or foil).
Steam on the stovetop at 210f for 4-6 hours depending on size of pudding basin. If the water gets too low, add a bit more.
After steaming, uncover and allow to cool to room temperature. Do not remove it from the pudding basin! Cover with fresh parchment paper and foil and store in a cool, dry place for at least a day.
(optional) to reheat; steam for 40-80 minutes, until warmed through.
Pudding Icing Method:
Place butter in a medium saucepan with the flour, pour in the milk then whisk everything vigorously together over a medium heat.
As soon as it comes to simmering point and has thickened, turn the heat to its lowest setting, stir in the sugar, and let the sauce cook for 10 minutes.
Add the brandy and stir to mix. Keep warm until required.
Wassail Ingredients:
4 cooking apples
2 pears
Brown sugar
4 Cinammon sticks
2 lemon
1 bottle of Sherry
½ bottle of Brandy
Wassail Method:
Core the apples and pears, leave the rest intact, and set in a baking pan. Fill the hollow centers with brown sugar.
Add about an inch of water to the pan and bake at 350f for 30 minutes, or until the fruit is soft.
Move the fruit to a large pot, add a bottle of sherry, half a bottle of brandy, lemon peel, and 4 large cinnamon sticks. (Feel free to use less booze!)
Bring the pot to a simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain before serving!
"even avatar yangchen said—" that's not the POINT, the point is that aang is the LAST airbender the LAST air nomad the LAST person following these teachings, the point is that if he breaks his vows the air nomads will truly die out with him, forever. the point is that the monks taught him all life is sacred and even if ozai is a piece of shit who everyone agrees deserves to die, aang refuses let ozai force him to give up the last thing he has of his people, their lessons, refuses to let ozai wipe the last air nomad from the earth and finish what his horrible family started. the point is that aang beats ozai because his spirit is unbendable, the point is that he takes the man whose ancestors set his on fire and robs him of the ability to hurt anyone ever again, the point is that the Fire Lord ends the fight kneeling before the Last Air Nomad and THAT is the ending aang deserved
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