Rambling on...

maddiemay

De-lurking to say hope all goes well:D

Hiddenidenity

Hope it has gone okay, another step closer to the end goal x

UncannyScot

Thanks folks

It went well, paperwork completed and for the next four years they are going to be looking after me

Set up SO / DD for my contribution payments and we are GO!
Major step forward...

Thank you for thoughts, prayers and well wishes
:A

Hiddenidenity

Glad it went well

A big step forward x

Toni'sfriend

Well done, US. Big step forward.

doingitanyway

Good news. Well done

Hiddenidenity

Have a lovely day US x

Sun_Addict

Glad it's all sorted - the only way is up from now on

UncannyScot

For those of you that have been following my baking...
I have found two good recipes for Scottish style dumpling.
One is the famous "Clootie Dumpling" recipe and the other is for "Smiddy Dumpling".
Both of which are bloody good.

The "Clootie Dumpling" however is a full days work in the kitchen. If you can devote the time to it and you get it right, it is well worth it.

The "Smiddy Dumpling" is great and is similar to the Clootie Dumpling but it takes a fraction of the time by comparison.

Here are both recipes pretty much as I found them.

SMIDDY DUMPLING

Today we are revisiting Scotland’s culinary heritage again. This is a recipe sent to me by my friend Sarah (who previously very kindly shared a family recipe for Belgian Loaf). It has come via her family located north of Inverness, so on at least one measure, it is probably about the most Scottish thing I’ve made for quite some time. So…presenting the “Smiddy Dumpling”.

The name Smiddy Dumpling is a bit of a misnomer though – it’s actually a simple fruit loaf. It’s similar to the famous Clootie Dumpling, which got its name from the fact that it was cooked (boiled) in a cloth – called a “cloot” in Scotland. Smiddy Dumpling is more like a traditional teacake, baked in the oven and served by the slice. It’s crammed with fruit (sultanas, raisins and whatever else you like) and has grated carrot in it to add moisture and some additional sweetness. It’s great with a cup of tea (what else would you drink in Scotland?) spread with a little butter and maybe honey or jam. It is equally good as a comforting pudding with a good glug of custard and/or a scoop of ice cream.

However, maybe we Scottish people approach these sort of recipes with the fond, fuzzy memories of childhood when eating it. We tried it on a German – he just point blank refused to eat what he called “another of those funny little Scottish recipes“.

The method is simplicity itself. It’s the same idea as Belgian Loaf – everything apart from the eggs and flour is put into a saucepan and brought to the boil. This ensures that the sugar and liquid are well-mixed and that the dried fruit has a chance to soften before baking. Once it has been left to cool, you mix in the flour and eggs and pop the cake into the oven. Cook slowly and wait for the final result. One things that I would caution – I am not sure that this will work so well if you try to make it using a muffin tray. It needs a long time in a slow oven for the raising agent (baking soda) to work its magic. Putting the batter into small muffin pans means less cooking time, which might leave a bit of a funny taste from the soda. If you are nevertheless a believer that small is beautiful, I would swap the baking soda for baking powder, and add it with the flour rather than when you boil the mixture. Just a thought.

The resulting cake is similar to Christmas cake. Well, actually, it is better than Christmas cake, as I actually cannot stand the traditional British festive cake. The Smiddy Dumpling has very moist fruit (given that it’s been boiled up with water and sugar) and the “cake bit” holding it all together is very light and soft. You can play around with any spices – keep it plain, add things like cinnamon, ground cloves or allspice, or be creative
(for example, you could add festive German Lebkuchengewürz mixed spice like I did).

As a fruity teatime treat, this is easy and pretty hard to beat. Sarah’s sister made this for work and had several colleagues after the recipe – now, that sounds like a pretty good endorsement of this recipe to me!

And finally – you’ll see that the recipe is in cups and ounces – this is how it came to me, and that is how it is staying. If you need to convert, go by volume, not weight, at a rate of 1 cup = 240ml.
To make Smiddy Dumpling (makes a 2lb loaf):

Step 1:
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups fruit (sultanas, raisins…)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate)
• 4oz (100g) butter
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
Put all ingredients into a pan, bring to the boil and simmer for two minutes. Allow to cool.
In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 150°C (300°F) and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
Step 2:
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 eggs well beaten
Add the flour and eggs to the cooled mixture and stir well. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for 1 1/2 hours. The loaf should roughly double in size.
Worth making? If you like dried fruit, this really is an excellent fruit loaf, and probably one of the best that I have had in a while. It’s neither too sweet nor too heavy, but has enough good stuff in there so that you don’t feel you are being cheated in any way. Definitely a winner from my perspective!

CLOOTIE DUMPLING

Clootie Dumpling Recipe - Traditional Scottish Suet Fruit Pudding

This was my gran's, so it makes a GIANT clootie, since gran always made it for family get togethers and birthdays. It's easy to make, but you do have to keep an eye on it when it's boiling to make sure it doesn't boil dry. So it's not something you can ignore while it's cooking.

Clootie refers to the cloth/tea towel that the dumpling is made in.

Ingredients:
24 oz self-raising flour
8 oz sugar (caster/soft brown/granulated all work)
4 oz suet
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
12 oz mixed fruit (or the whole packet if it's 14 oz like the one I used :-D)
1 grated apple
1 tbsp treacle
1 tbsp syrup
1 pint milk (makes a sticky wet dough/moist dumpling)

1 large cotton tea towel/cloth to wrap the dumpling in
String
Huge saucepan, with lid, for boiling
Ovenproof plate to go in bottom of pan
Baking tray lined with greaseproof paper

Put the cloth in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. Leave to cool.

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix.
Add apple, treacle and syrup and mix.
Add milk and mix.


Put upturned plate in bottom of pan to stop the dumpling burning. Use an old one that will survive a heavy dumpling sitting on it for a couple of hours (mine broke this time :-( )
Fill pan with water and bring to boil


Wring out cloth* and spread flat.
Cover cloth with a thick layer of flour; this stops dumpling sticking to cloth and helps to form the dumpling's skin.

Put mixture in cloth, leave room for expansion and tie up ends with the string.

Place in boiling water.
Boil for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, taking care to keep water boiling on a constant fast simmer, topping up as necessary with hot water from the kettle.


Remove from pan, and peel away cloth, careful not to break the dumpling's skin which is very soft just now.


Put dumpling on greaseproof paper lined baking tray, in a warm oven (100 degrees C or equivalent) to dry out for approx half an hour/hour. This forms a nice firm skin.

Clootie is now ready to eat! And it's DELISH!
Slice and eat hot or cold with cream, custard, or butter and jam.

Allow to cool thoroughly then store in an airtight container. Eat within 2 days.

Or, as this is a HUGE clootie, I usually slice and freeze. That way individual slices can be defrosted as needed, and can be reheated in oven, or fried in a little butter, or toasted.

So there you have it, how to make a clootie dumpling. Let me if you've got any questions about making it, or if you try it! And if you do - Enjoy!

Please note - these are not my own recipes, I found them online and thought I would share them.

I am making a Smiddy Dumplin right now, so will let you all know how it goes

UncannyScot

The Smiddy Dumplin is most excellent