CARROT PUDDING

Until I made carrot pudding, I really didn't know what invalid food, or poor man's diet, or frugal eating meant. The problem is that carrot, with all its nutritional value, has little or no flavor. Zucchini that Italians sometimes put in a cake is much better that way. But carrot... American-style carrot cakes are loaded with spices and coated with glazing. Vegetables like carrots, zucchini, eggplant & tomato also go in marmalades but the carrot variation is not so good for breakfast and often used as filling for layered desserts. Carrot is definitely improved if paired with exotic flavors. For instance, gajar ka halva from the Indian subcontinent, is a delicious pudding with cardamom, pistachios and ghee butter. It's often made with fresh winter carrots that give the finished pudding a bright red colour. Today's post, however, is about English pudding from ordinary carrots.

 

In the kitchen (François Celestin, 1846)

Carrot pudding was a staple in England for more than 200 years, featuring in best-sellers like The Art of Cookery (1747), Modern domestic cookery (1805) and Warne's model cookery (1868). All of the recipes used breadcrumbs for absorbing liquids as well as brandy & spices for extra flavor. The rich versions used butter or/and cream and lots of eggs; the poor versions used suet and milk. The bland sweetness of carrot was enhanced with dried fruit. Many of the carrot puddings were boiled, others were baked in edible tartshells.

The version adapted for today's post was simply baked in a dish. It's from Warne's model cookery, authored by Mary Jewry: "Carrot pudding. Time, to bake, one hour. 1948. Three quarters of a pound of carrots; half a pound of bread-crumbs; a quarter of a pound of raisins; four ounces of suet; a quarter of a pound of currants; three ounces of loaf sugar; three eggs; some nutmeg; and a little milk. Boil and pulp the carrots, add to them the bread-crumbs, the raisins stoned, the suet chopped very fine, a little nutmeg, and three ounces of sugar pounded. Well beat the three eggs, and add them to a sufficient quantity of milk to make the ingredients into a thick batter. then put it into a buttered pie-dish and bake it. When done, turn it out and sift sugar over it."

 

CARROT PUDDING

This is a modest version of the original in that it uses much less butter, for it was meant to be a healthy dessert (=invalid food). The carrots were grated rather than boiled, after Maria Rundell's instructions.

 

I n g r e d i e n t s

340g carrots, grated

225g breadcrumbs

100g raisins

50g almonds, skinned

50g butter, melted

a pinch of nutmeg

3 eggs

100g caster sugar

150ml whole milk

M e t h o d

1. Toss the carrots, breadcrumbs, raisins & almonds in a bowl. 2. Combine the butter, nutmeg, eggs, sugar and milk in another. Beat well, then mix with the dry ingredients. 3. Divide among 4-6 buttered individual ramekins and bake in a moderate oven for an hour or so. Best eaten warm.

 

V a r i a t i o n

For rich carrot pudding: Use grated biscuits instead of breadcrumbs. Double the raisins, use half a cup of butter, replace the milk with cream. Flavor with brandy and/or spices.