EVE'S PUDDING from *BECOMING BELLE*

Eve's Pudding with Alpro Soya Custard

The finished Eve's Pudding

I am at the end of a rewrite of novel #4, Becoming Belle, and I have, as usual, got my heroine eating her way through the plot. Early in the novel, Belle's domineering mother (in an off-page moment of sweetness) makes an Eve's Pudding for Belle and her two sisters to enjoy while their parents are dining with the regiment. So, naturally, I had to make one and try it for myself :) It's research.

The cooking apples with lemon juice and sugar mixed in

I used Bramley apples because they're the best ones for this recipe. But, also, because when I was in England in August, doing final on-the-ground research for the book, we drove through the pretty village of Bramley in Surrey.

A fine Bramley (or 'Brailsford')

However, it turns out Bramley apples actually originated in Nottinghamshire and were named after a butcher called Matthew Bramley. But!!! The apple tree was planted by a girl called Mary Ann Brailsford - Mr Bramley bought the cottage and garden where she planted her tree. So, we should be making our Eve's Pud with Brailsfords, really :)

The apples with the batter poured on

After all that, I made the pudding today for my husband's birthday, we had it with custard, and it was delicious. The apples stew together and are nicely tart-sweet, and the flaked almonds give bite.

INGREDIENTS

Filling:

3 Bramley cooking apples (peeled, cored and thinly sliced)

75g brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Sponge topping:

150g self-raising flour

75g butter or marg (room temp)

75g caster sugar

1 egg (beaten)

100ml milk

A handful of flaked almonds (optional)

METHOD:

• Pre-heat oven to 180˚C
• Grease an ovenproof dish.
• Mix the Bramleys with the granulated sugar and lemon juice.
• Spoon the apple mixture into the prepared dish.
• In a bowl, beat together the flour, butter, caster sugar, egg and milk to a batter with a soft dropping consistency.
• Spread this over the apples and sprinkle with the flaked almonds, if used.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C, bottom shelf, for 45 minutes or until sponge is golden brown.

(Cross-posted with The Hungry Veggie)

EMILY DICKINSON’S BLACK CAKE

Black Cake - with a chunk taken out :)

This cake features in my forthcoming novel Miss Emily (out July in USA and Canada, August in UK and Ireland) so it was about time I actually made it. In the book Emily makes it for her December birthday and shares it with her Irish maid Ada.

Juno beating the eggs and sugar

Emily's version of this calls for 19 eggs and 5 lbs of currants!! I made a quarter sized version. The finished cake certainly looks black and it tastes more like a plum pudding than cake to me. It's rich and very fruity. I have no clue how Emily baked hers at 120°C in three hours. My much-reduced cake took three hours and forty minutes and still looked a bit moist around the middle.

Treacle marbling the batter - Emily used molasses in her version

I had a lump of it hot from the oven last night - I am looking forward to having a piece today with soya custard or that lovely Alpro Lemon and Lime 'yogurt'.

INGREDIENTS

•           225g self-raising flour

•           225g butter

•           225g sugar

•           half teaspoon baking soda (bread soda in Ireland)

•           quarter teaspoon ground nutmeg

•           1.25 teaspoons total: cloves, mace, cinnamon (or mixed spice)

•           5 eggs

•           550g raisins

•           150g citron (candied peel)

•           150g currants

•           60ml brandy (or whiskey)

•           60ml treacle

METHOD

•           Preheat oven to 120°C

•           Grease and line the bottom of a round baking tin (8”)

•           Sift together flour, bread soda and spices

•           In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar

•           Add eggs one at a time and beating after each one

•           Add brandy (or whiskey), mix well

•           Add flour mixture, mix well.

•           Add treacle and sprinkle in fruit as you stir

•           Pour into greased tin

•           Bake for 2 hours at 120°C

•           Bake for a further 1 hour 30 mins at 160°C then remove cake from tin to cool

•           Store in an air-tight container. Douse with whiskey/brandy once a week

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(Note: This post is cross-posted with my cooking blog, The Hungry Veggie.)