Maple Pecan Steamed Pudding

My first adventure in pudding making was a great success... and I had every excuse in the book as to why I wouldn't be able to make one, why it wouldn't turn out right and whatever... but I surprised myself here...

On the weekend I made a Maple Pecan Pudding and it was lovely! I was a bit concerned that it would not turn out right, because well, it is steamed and not baked and for the life of me I could not figure out how that would be an advantage.

And it's not really - however it is a completely different taste, texture and the process involved in making a pudding is quite interesting in itself. First of all not many people would have a pudding steamer and I certainly don't.

So, you have to improvise and that's not difficult at all. I used a glass bowl for the pudding, placed an upside down measuring cup on the bottom of the saucepan, then made a cover for the pudding using tin foil and parchment paper. It was all fastened with string and even a little handle...

To make the pudding I used 1 cup of chopped pecans, 4 tablespoons oats and 1/4 cup of maple syrup. I mixed these up and placed them into the buttered glass bowl at the bottom. Then to make the pudding I used 2 cups of spelt flour, grated orange rind, 1/4 agave syrup, 2 eggs beaten, 1/2 cup goat's milk, cloves and a pinch of salt.

I mixed all of these other ingredients together in a mixing bowl until it resembled a batter and then spooned it carefully onto the pecans. This would form the bottom part of the pudding. I covered the glass bowl with the foil and string and then carefully placed it into the saucepan (on it's perch) and turned up the heat.

This steamed for 2 hours with me checking to make sure there was enough water. I kept it up about half way around the bowl. 

To be honest I was not at all certain it would steam and cook - so was pleasantly surprised when I opened it and it was cooked. Nicely. To serve, this type of pudding is great with homemade custard and  drizzled with more maple syrup...

April

Maple Pecan Pudding... already sampled!