Steamed Pumpkin-Ginger Pudding
For several years Williams-Sonoma produced excellent booklets with complete Thanksgiving menus and recipes. One featured a delicious Steamed Pumpkin-Ginger Pudding recipe that has been part of my holiday dinner table ever since. The diced crystallized ginger and baking spices marry well with the pumpkin to produce a flavorful and unique ending to the holiday meal.
The fact that it is made on the stove top is a real bonus when so many dishes are competing for oven space. For a warm and aromatic pudding, plan for it to come out just before dinner and leave it, unmolded in a warm place in kitchen. Or, live on the edge and put it in to steam just as you sit down for turkey.
I have always served this pudding with a decadent Vanilla Mousseline Sauce, which envelopes a pudding slice in fluffy vanilla wonderfulness, and is a perfect counterpoint to the ginger. Lightly sweetened whipped cream would also be a good accompaniment
In addition to a 1.6-quart pudding mold you will need a deep pot with a tight-fitting lid, and a small round rack to hold the pudding off the bottom of the pan. Sources for the pudding mold and the rack are provided at the end of the recipe.
Make your life easier on Thanksgiving morning and get your dessert mise en place done the day before; chop the crystallized ginger and store in a sealed plastic container or a Ziploc, mix together the dry ingredients, and pull out all the equipment.
To warm up a leftover slice the next day, place the slice on a plate, cover with plastic film, and microwave for 10 seconds.
Steamed Pumpkin-Ginger Pudding
| Yield: One steamed pudding | # of Servings: 8 | Method: Creaming |
Ingredients:
Steamed Pudding:
- 1 ½ cups (9.3 oz / 263 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp (.35 oz / 10 g) baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp (.15 oz / 4 g) cinnamon
- ½ tsp allspice
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 ¼ cup (11.8 oz / 324 g) canned pumpkin
- ¼ cup heavy cream, room temperature
- 1 tbl fresh lemon juice
- 8 tbl (4 oz / 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (7 oz / 198 g) light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
- ½ cup (2.50 oz / 71 g) chopped crystallized ginger
Sauce:
Tools and equipment needed:
- 1.6 qt. steamed pudding mold. Mine is 7 ½â€ in diameter, by 4 ½â€ tall.
- Deep pot with a tight-fitting lid. The pot must allow for the mold to sit on a rack in the water with at least an inch of clearance on top. The one I use has an 8 qt capacity, is 10†in diameter, and 7†tall.
- A small round steaming rack to hold the mold off the bottom of the pan. See sources below.
- Countertop mixer with paddle attachment or handheld mixer
- Dry and liquid measuring cups, tablespoon measuring set, scale
- Medium and small mixing bowls.
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Using a pastry brush and softened butter, butter the steamed pudding mold, including the inside of the lid. Set aside or refrigerate to hold overnight.
- For a non-stick mold, a baking spray with flour may be used. Spray the mold and inside of the lid only when ready to fill with batter.
- Place pot on stove with the small rack in the bottom, and fill with about 2†in depth of hot water. Turn heat on low.
- Heat additional water in a kettle. Keep hot.
Directions
- Stir together dry ingredients, set aside.
- Whisk together the pumpkin, cream, and lemon juice in small bowl. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and cream, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
- Add beaten eggs in three increments, scraping the sides and bottom of bowl with a plastic spatula as necessary to maintain a well-blended batter. The mixture may appear curdled toward the end. Not to worry, this will smooth out then the flour is added.
- Mix in the dry ingredients in three stages, alternating with the pumpkin mixture in two stages, beginning and ending with the dry.
- Mix in the crystallized ginger. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with plastic spatula to ensure the batter is well-blended.
- Carefully spoon the batter into the mold, smooth the top. Place a kitchen towel on the counter and knock the bottom of the mold against it, to eliminate any air pockets.
- Cover the mold, seal it shut, and place it one the rack in the large pan.
- Pour enough hot water so that it comes â…” up the side of the mold.
- Bring the water just to the simmer point, where bubbles are just coming the surface.
- Cover the pan, and check in 10 minutes to see that the water is still just at the summer point, adjust the flame as needed.
- Steam for 57 minutes. Take the mold out of the pot and remove the lid. The pudding should feel firm and a cake tester should come out with just a few crumbs. If more cooking time is necessary, snap the lid back on and steam for 2 to 3 additional minutes before checking again.
Sources:
- Mrs. Anderson’s Baking makes a 1.6-liter steamed pudding mold, available from Bed, Bath and Beyond as well as Amazon. For the rack on the bottom of the pot, look for a 6 or 7-inch round rack (stainless preferably to avoid rusting). On Amazon, there is currently a stainless one from CampingMoon company, searchable via “CampingMoon round rack.”
