Great Grandfather Merrick's Old England's Plum Pudding

Going through some of the old papers, I found this recipe which I believe is from my great grandfather, Merrick Luther Smith, based on the writing. I thought it would be fun to see if we can pull it off this holiday season.

First, I transcribed it to see what we had:

Old England’s Plum Pudding

1 lb Bread Crumbs

1 lb raisins

1 lb suet

1 lb currants

1 lb flour

6 eggs

½ lb citrons

¼ lb candied lemon peels

1 cup of molasses

Salt, spice to taste

½ cup brandy, mixed with milk

Sauce

Make a plain sauce of custard, sugar, salt, slice of butter and cold water.  Guess at the amounts of each

Then flavor with french brandy

It is missing a lot of important information, so I went to the web to see if I could find similar recipes to fill in the blanks. Here is what I came up with for the main recipe, I'll do another post once I figure out the sauce part.

Merrick’s Old England’s Plum Pudding

1 lb raisins

1 lb currants

½ lb citron (thinly sliced)

¼ lb candied lemon peel (chopped)

½  teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon mace

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 lb suet

1 ½ cup brandy

1 lb bread crumbs

1 cup scalded milk

6 eggs
1 lb flour

1 cup molasses

1 teaspoon salt

Blend raisins, currants, citron, lemon peel, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, ground cloves, allspice, black pepper, and suet in a bowl.  Add ¼ cup brandy.  Cover tightly and refrigerate for 4 days, add ¼ cup brandy each day.

Soak bread crumbs in milk and brandy.  Combine with well-beaten eggs, flour and molasses.  Blend with the fruit mixture.  Add flour, salt and mix thoroughly.  Put the pudding in  buttered bowls or tins, filling them about ⅔ full.  Cover with foil and tie it firmly.  Steam for 6-7 hours.  Uncover and place in a 250 degree F oven for 30 minutes.  Add a dash of brandy to each pudding, cover with foil and keep in a cool place.

To use, steam again for 2-3 hours and unmold. Sprinkle with sugar; add heated french brandy. Ignite and bring to the table.  Server with Merrick’s Plum Pudding Sauce.