Clootie Dumpling
Submitted by lynthomo
A traditional Scottish clootie dumpling made with suet, currants, sultanas, and cinnamon, wrapped in a floured cloth and simmered for two hours. Serve warm with custard sauce for a proper British pudding.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
2 minREADY
3 minThis is proper Scottish pudding, the kind your gran made on Burns Night, boiled in a cloth the old-fashioned way.
A clootie dumpling gets its name from the “cloot” or cloth it’s wrapped in. The batter is a simple mix of flour, shredded suet, dried currants, sultanas, cinnamon, and buttermilk. It gets spooned into a floured pudding cloth, tied up tight, and simmered in a pot of boiling water for a full two hours.
What comes out is dense, fruity, and warmly spiced, with a slightly sticky skin from the floured cloth. Dredge it in caster sugar and serve it steaming with hot custard sauce poured over the top.
Kitchen Tips
- Dip the cloth in boiling water and wring it out before flouring. This helps the dumpling hold its shape and develop that characteristic skin.
- Leave room inside the cloth for the dumpling to swell. Tie it snug but not strangling.
- Place a saucer in the bottom of the pot so the dumpling doesn’t sit directly on the heat and scorch.
- Leftovers are brilliant sliced and fried in butter for breakfast the next morning.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix flour with suet, fruit, sugar, cinnamon and soda.
Stir in enough milk to make a soft batter.
Dip a pudding cloth (cheesecloth) into boiling water, sink it in a basin large enough to hold the batter.
Dredge it lightly with flour and spoon in the batter.
Draw the fullness of the cloth together evenly, then tie it tightly with string, but leave enough room for the dumpling to swell.
Place a saucer or plate in the bottom of a large saucepan.
Lift the dumpling into the pan.
Pour in enough boiling water to cover. Simmer for a full 2 hours, then untie. Turn out carefully onto a hot serving dish. Dredge with castor sugar. Serve with hot custard sauce.
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