It was Mr Mc's birthday last week, and I made him one* of these! I am now the BEST WIFE EVAH! *g*
Clootie Dumpling Recipe - Traditional Scottish Suet Fruit Pudding
This recipe is Mr Mc's gran's, so it makes a GIANT clootie, since his gran always made it for family get togethers and birthdays. It's easy to make, but you do have to keep an eye on it when it's boiling to make sure it doesn't boil dry. So it's not something you can ignore while it's cooking.
Clootie refers to the cloth/tea towel that the dumpling is made in.
Ingredients:
24 oz self-raising flour
8 oz sugar (caster/soft brown/granulated all work)
4 oz suet
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
12 oz mixed fruit (or the whole packet if it's 14 oz like the one I used :-D)
1 grated apple
1 tbsp treacle
1 tbsp syrup
1 pint milk (makes a sticky wet dough/moist dumpling)
1 large cotton tea towel/cloth to wrap the dumpling in
String
Huge saucepan, with lid, for boiling
Ovenproof plate to go in bottom of pan
Baking tray lined with greaseproof paper
Put the cloth in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. Leave to cool.
Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix.
Add apple, treacle and syrup and mix.
Add milk and mix.
Put upturned plate in bottom of pan to stop the dumpling burning. Use an old one that will survive a heavy dumpling sitting on it for a couple of hours (mine broke this time :-( )
Fill pan with water and bring to boil
Wring out cloth* and spread flat.
Cover cloth with a thick layer of flour; this stops dumpling sticking to cloth and helps to form the dumpling's skin.
Put mixture in cloth, leave room for expansion and tie up ends with the string.
Place in boiling water.
Boil for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, taking care to keep water boiling on a constant fast simmer, topping up as necessary with hot water from the kettle.
Remove from pan, and peel away cloth, careful not to break the dumpling's skin which is very soft just now.
Put dumpling on greaseproof paper lined baking tray, in a warm oven (100 degrees C or equivalent) to dry out for approx half an hour/hour. This forms a nice firm skin.
Clootie is now ready to eat! And it's DELISH!
Slice and eat hot or cold with cream, custard, or butter and jam.
Allow to cool thoroughly then store in an airtight container. Eat within 2 days.
Or, as this is a HUGE clootie, I usually slice and freeze. That way individual slices can be defrosted as needed, and can be reheated in oven, or fried in a little butter, or toasted.
So there you have it, how to make a clootie dumpling. Let me if you've got any questions about making it, or if you try it! And if you do - Enjoy!
* Last time I made one was 2 years ago. I was the BEST WIFE EVAH! then too. *g*
* make sure cloth is cool enough to touch so you don't burn yourself.
