Cloutie Dumpling with Ginger Cream
Submitted by JFrodle
A rich Scottish cloutie dumpling studded with currants, sultanas, grated apple, and carrot, boiled in a cloth for 4 hours and served with a warm ginger wine cream sauce. A proper celebration pudding.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
30 minCOOK
4 hrsREADY
5 hrsThis is the grand version of a cloutie dumpling, the kind you’d make for Hogmanay or a special gathering when you want jaws to drop at the table.
The batter is loaded with currants, sultanas, grated apple, grated carrot, breadcrumbs, treacle, and warm spices. It gets wrapped in a floured cloth and boiled for a full four hours until it’s dark, dense, and magnificently rich. A quick stint in a low oven dries the surface into a glossy, almost lacquered skin.
The ginger cream is the crowning touch: egg yolks beaten with ginger wine over hot water until thick and fluffy, then loosened with cream and poured from a glass jug over each steaming slice.
Kitchen Tips
- Four hours of boiling is the minimum. Don’t be tempted to rush it, as the long cook develops that dark, treacly richness.
- Dip the dumpling briefly in cold water right after boiling. This helps release it cleanly from the cloth.
- Dry the skin in a very low oven for 20 minutes for that signature dark, shiny finish.
- Leftover slices fried in butter make a luxurious tea-time treat the next day.
Ingredients
Directions
Sieve the flour and mix it with the breadcrumbs, brown sugar and spices.
Melt the butter or vegetable fat gently with the treacle. Mix the breadcrumbs, currants and sultanas.
Beat the egg and milk together and add to the dry ingredients, with the grated carrot and apple - use you hands.
Add more milk if necessary to give a soft mixture which drops easily from the spoon.
Put a square of cotton sheet in the pot of boiling water with an upturned plate on the bottom.
Take out the scalded cloth, spinkle it with flour and put in the dumpling.
Draw up the edges, and tie up firmly with white string, leaving enough room for the pudding to expand.
Lower the dumpling back into the boiling pan. Keep water topped up. Bring back to the boil.
Boil steadily but gently for 4 hours. It can be longer but it shouldn’t be less. Remove the dumpling and dip it staight in and out of cold water.
Unwrap the dumpling on to a serving plate. The skin will initially be white from the flour.
Put the dumpling on its plate in a very low oven to dry off for 20 minutes, when it will develop a fine, dark glossy skin.
Meanwhile, make the ginger cream. Beat the wine with the egg yolks over hot water until the mixture is thick, white and fluffy. Stir in ¼ pint single cream.
Serve it in a pretty glass jug, with the hot pudding. The dumpling cuts wonderfully rich and dark. Leftover slices are delicious fried in butter - lovely with cream for a special tea-time treat.
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