Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Steamed Chocolate Pudding

Steamed chocolate pudding with cinnamon-clove sauce. © Ryan Schierling
For Christmas every year my Grandma Munroe makes a single petite steamed chocolate pudding with an intensely-spiced cinnamon-clove sauce for dessert. It's a tradition. A tradition that goes back a long way. As in, my grandmother will be celebrating her 95th birthday in the new year and this recipe came via her mother, who we think got it from her mother-in-law. It has been a Christmas tradition for all these years – one tenacious little gem in the pantheon of English steamed puddings, uniquely stovetop "baked" cakes which are know to have originated sometime before the mid-1600s.

My first memories of this steamed chocolate pudding are vague, and more of an impression than anything else. I remember always thinking it should be an unconventional flavor combination – the chocolate with the cinnamon – yet tasting the flavorful spices of cinnamon and cloves as they saturated each dense little slice were such a delight! For me it has become a truly special holiday treat.  

My grandmother is the only person I've ever known to prepare this (although I have confirmed that one or two of her siblings have made it, as well). A few years ago, knowing my fascination with this particular dessert, someone in my family gave me a steamed pudding mold for Christmas. It took me a while to try using it, and my first attempt was something of a disaster due to my misinterpretation of the recipe and a failure to research the essential concepts involved when using a steaming mold. I won't go into details, but I have since corrected, and clarified, the essentials for my future self and others who may visit this post. You see, the original recipe is written in that familiar vernacular which assumes the process and nuances are already known to the cook – where the ingredients and instructions are but mere reference notes to self, passed from one cook to another. 
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