Recipe#6345

Title: Clootie Dumpling

GSD

   6       oz           Plain flour
   3       oz           Shredded suet (usually
                        -available at your butcher)
   3       oz           Currants (dark raisins)
   1       oz           Sultanas (white raisins)
   2       oz           To 3 oz castor sugar
   1       t            Ground cinnamon
     1/2   ts           Baking soda
     3/4   c            Buttermilk or sour milk
  Mix flour with suet, fruit, sugar, cinnamon and soda.
  Stir in enough milk to make a soft batter. Dip a
  pudding cloth (cheesecloth) into boiling water, sink
  it in a basin large enough to hold the batter. Dredge
  it lightly with flour and spoon in the batter. Draw
  the fullness of the cloth together evenly, then tie it
  tightly with string, but leave enough room for the
  dumpling to swell. Place a saucer or plate in the
  bottom of a large saucepan. Lift the dumpling into the
  pan. Pour in enough boiling water to cover. Simmer for
  a full 2 hours, then untie. Turn out carefully onto a
  hot serving dish. Dredge with castor sugar. Serve with
  hot custard sauce. Yields 4 to 6 servings.
  
  For the hot custard sauce, we usually use Byrd's
  Custard. If you have the availability of British goods
  in your area, they should have Byrd's custard. It
  comes in a large tin, like a container of powdered
  chocolate for chocolate milk. Just follow the
  directions to make a custard, only dilute it a little
  more to make it sauce-like.