Christmas Plum Pudding in Regency England
by Regan Walker
Christmas dinner in Regency England often ended with wonderful desserts, including march pane (what we call marzipan), gingerbread, mince pie and, of course, Christmas pudding. I thought you might like to see the recipe for the Plum Pudding they made when the Prince Regent ruled England (1811-1820) and then I’d offer you my own recipe for a plum cake that always draws compliments and is much easier to make. (Both recipes are on my website.) In both my new Christmas novella The Twelfth Night Wager, and my short story The Holly & The Thistle, set in London in 1818, Christmas Plum Pudding is served on Christmas Day.
First, the traditional English Christmas Plum Pudding:
Ingredients:
1 1/4 lb. Suet
1 lb. Demerara (cane) sugar
1 lb. raisins
1 lb. sultanas
4 oz. citron peel
4 oz. candied peel
1 tsp. mixed spice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1 lb. breadcrumbs
1/2 lb. sifted flour
1 lb. eggs (weighed in their shells)
1 wineglassful brandy
1/2 pint milk
Prepare all ingredients, well whip the eggs, add to milk, and thoroughly mix. Let stand for 12 hours in a cool place, add brandy and put into well-greased basins and boil 8 hours or longer. Sufficient for twenty to twenty-eight people.
1 lb. Demerara (cane) sugar
1 lb. raisins
1 lb. sultanas
4 oz. citron peel
4 oz. candied peel
1 tsp. mixed spice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1 lb. breadcrumbs
1/2 lb. sifted flour
1 lb. eggs (weighed in their shells)
1 wineglassful brandy
1/2 pint milk
Prepare all ingredients, well whip the eggs, add to milk, and thoroughly mix. Let stand for 12 hours in a cool place, add brandy and put into well-greased basins and boil 8 hours or longer. Sufficient for twenty to twenty-eight people.
I know. I know. Who would do all that, right? Not me. So, here my own recipe for Regan’s Plum Cake:
Ingredients:
1 cup oil (I use organic Canola oil)
2 cups granulated sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
3 eggs (I use extra large organic eggs)
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour (I use organic pastry flour)
1 teaspoon each: nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice
24 pitted prunes
1-2 cups diced walnuts
Powdered sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Prepare Bundt pan: Oil and flour a large Bundt pan (I’m using a silicon one)
Cut up 24 prunes into small pieces and set aside
Measure out 1-2 cups diced walnuts and set aside
Sift 2 cups baking flour with 1 teaspoon each of nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice and set aside
In an electric mixer combine:
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs (1 egg each time beaten w/fork before being added)
1 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon baking soda (I measure the buttermilk first and add the soda to it using a 2 cup measuring cup as the mixture will expand. I also prepare it just after I prepare the flour mixture so it can rise a bit)
3 eggs (1 egg each time beaten w/fork before being added)
1 cup buttermilk mixed with 1 teaspoon baking soda (I measure the buttermilk first and add the soda to it using a 2 cup measuring cup as the mixture will expand. I also prepare it just after I prepare the flour mixture so it can rise a bit)
1 teaspoon vanilla
When well mixed, add in the flour mixture, the prunes and the nuts and mix to evenly distribute. Then pour into your prepared Bundt pan.
Bake for 60 minutes and check to see if done. Check for doneness with toothpick and by pressing your finger slightly to the top to see if it “bounces” back. If the toothpick comes out clean and the cake bounces back when pressed, it’s done.
If not done then, leave it in for another 5 minutes (it usually takes 65 minutes for me).
Cool 10 min. before taking out of the pan. Cool another 15 min. before dusting with powdered sugar. Store in foil in the refrigerator. It will keep for 2 weeks if not eaten before!
Now, let’s take a peek at Regan’s Christmas novella,
The Twelfth Night Wager, shall we?
The Novella Blurb
THE REDHEADED RAKE
It was a dull day at White’s, the day he agreed to the wager: seduce bed and walk away from the lovely Lady Leisterfield, all by Twelfth Night. This holiday season, Christopher St. Ives, Viscount Eustace, planned to give himself a gift.
THE INNOCENT WIDOW
She was too proper by half—or so was the accusation of her friends, which was why her father had to find her a husband. But Lord Leisterfield was now gone a year, and Grace was at last shedding the drab colors of mourning. The house felt empty, more so during the coming Christmastide, and so tonight her coming out would begin with a scandalous piece of theater. The play would attract rogues, or so promised her friend the dowager countess. It would indeed. The night would bring about the greatest danger—and the greatest happiness—that Grace had ever known.
“Love sought is good, but giv’n unsought is better.”
—William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
Chapter 1
London, January 5, 1819
Twelfth Night
It never would have happened if he hadn’t been so terribly bored that night at White’s. Staring into the crackling fire in the parlour on this frosty night and reflecting back on the last several months, Christopher St. Ives, Viscount Eustace, recalled the evening well; the deep leather chair he sat in, the lit cheroot dangling from one hand and a brandy in the other. He had only been half listening as Hugh Redgrave, the very married Marquess of Ormond, droned on about the virtues of the leg-shackled state. Happily married men could be so tiresome. Looking back on it now, it seemed years not months since they’d traded quips in the conversation that led to the wager:
“I say, Ormond, just where are you going with this praise for the wedded state? You know me too well to believe I’m convinced.”
“You might at least consider taking a wife, Eustace. There’s much to be said for the change it would bring about in your otherwise tawdry existence of late. After all, thirty-five is past the age where dissipation wears well, don’t you think?”
Tawdry existence? Dissipation?“Surely you cannot mean those words, Ormond. I’m just after a bit of fun.”
“You go after women like you go after the fox. It’s all in the chase for you.”
“And that is wrong? Just because you have your heir and a spare at thirty-two does not mean I wish to accumulate the same baggage.” At the frown that appeared on Ormond’s face, Christopher, Lord Eustace, hastened to add, “No offense meant toward the beautiful Lady Ormond, whom I admire above all women, but I am not ready for such a change, as my recent indulgences confirm. Besides, I like women and have my own way of handling them, which suits me quite well. I see no reason for change.”
“As far as I can see, your way of ‘handling’ them is not to have one at all.”
“Ho, now that ain’t so, and well you know it! Though, being a gentleman, I’ll not disclose the number ‘had’ even if I could recall. My method, I assure you, works perfectly for me.”
“You have a method?” Ormond asked, incredulous.
“Well, perhaps not a method as you would count it. I seduce ’em, bed ’em and—”
“Leave them. Yes, I know. But not always smiling, I’ve heard.”
Christopher looked up at the chandelier above and back to his friend as he let out a sigh. “Perhaps not, but none complain till the end is in sight. Then, well…I admit things have on occasion become a bit sticky. But they are all willing players in the game.”
“Your way of handling women cannot work with all. You must have failed with some.”
“Quite the contrary, my good man. I’ve succeeded with every lady I’ve gone after.” Christopher held back a grin. He did not lack confidence when it came to his success with women. And a worthy adversary made every game more exciting.
“I would wager there is one you cannot seduce.”
“Ho! Wager? Do I hear a challenge being laid down?” Snuffing out his cheroot, Christopher leaned forward. “Who might this unassailable paragon be?”
Ormond glanced about the sparsely populated club room filled with tables and chairs. Christopher’s eyes followed, noting the small group of men at a round table engaged in muted conversation some distance away. None appeared to be eavesdropping.
Leaning forward, Ormond whispered, “Grace, the Lady Leisterfield.”
Christopher leaned back in his chair and took a sip of brandy. In his mind’s eye he saw a slim blonde in a rather modest gray gown standing next to the elderly Lady Claremont. “Yes, I recall her from the last ball of the Season. The young widow lives like a nun, or so I’ve heard.”
Ormond grinned. “That, old man, is the challenge.”
“She’s in mourning, is she not?”
“Just coming out. And a worthy contender to test your…method.”
“I see.” But did he? Was there more to this than a wager? It was clear Ormond had something in mind, and the marquess could be exceedingly cryptic at times. Still, whatever was behind the challenge, and whatever the stakes, Christopher was drawn by the opportunity, even more by the encouragement, to entice the lovely Lady Leisterfield to his bed.
“I’ve been very impressed with the lady,” his friend continued, “and I would love to see you fail miserably trying to scale her castle walls. I would consider it sweet justice for the fairer sex.” Ormond winked.
Christopher was tempted to decline, still miffed at Ormond’s comment about his tawdry existence. Yet the memory of the beautiful Lady Leisterfield permeated his thoughts. “Perhaps I shall accept your delightful challenge.”
Ormond grinned, then his expression turned serious. “One thing. If you do this, Eustace, you must promise to preserve the lady’s reputation no matter the outcome. That must be part of the challenge, as I would not see a good woman ruined at the end of it.”
“Well, I know of no woman who has suffered overmuch from being associated with me, but I assure you I will be discreet.”
“All right—and so we are clear,” said Ormond. “You must seduce, bed and walk away from the baroness, else I will have won.”
Christopher nodded, wondering all the while if he’d missed something. Ormond always seemed to have an agenda not fully disclosed. With him, much was hidden beneath the surface.
The marquess suggested with a pointed look, “Ninety days should be sufficient; do you agree?”
“We are indeed agreed. And let me add, it will be my pleasure.”
It wasn’t just the thought of bedding the lovely widow that put a grin on Christopher’s face; he was thrilled with the prospect of a real challenge with a virtuous woman. It was a wholly different sport than he normally engaged in, but Lady Leisterfield was a worthy quarry. A challenge indeed. One for which he felt himself uniquely qualified.
“Shall we reduce the wager to the book?” Ormond inquired with a wry smile. “Say, one thousand pounds to make it interesting?”
“Done.” Casting his reservations aside, Christopher set down his empty glass, reached for Ormond’s extended hand and gave it a hearty shake.
And so, that night, Christopher entered the following into White’s book:
Ld Eustace has wagered Ld Ormond 1000 pounds
that by Twelfth Night he can seduce, bed and walk away from a certain lady understood between them.
A bit about Regan
As a child Regan Walker loved to write stories, particularly about adventure-loving girls, but by the time she got to college more serious pursuits took priority. One of her professors encouraged her to pursue the profession of law, which she did. Years of serving clients in private practice and several stints in high levels of government gave her a love of international travel and a feel for the demands of the “Crown” on its subjects. Hence her romance novels often involve a demanding Prince Regent who thinks of his subjects as his private talent pool.
Regan lives in San Diego with her golden retriever, Link, whom she says inspires her every day to relax and smell the roses.
Connect with Regan
The Twelfth Night Wager buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Twelfth-Night-Wager-Regan-Walker-ebook/dp/B00GG2DALC
