Sussex Pond Pudding - Old Fashioned Steamed Lemon Pudding - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 unwaxed lemons
100 g butter, plus extra for greasing
250 g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
100 g vegetable suet or 100 g grated fozen butter
150 ml whole milk
100 g golden caster sugar or 100 g light brown sugar

Preparation

1. Prick the lemons all over with a skewer. Cut the butter into fine dice and chill.
2. Combine the flour and suet (or grated butter) in a bowl and add the milk. Knead to form a dough. Divide it into 2 rough balls, comprising of a third and two-thirds of the mix respectively. Flour a worktop and roll out the larger ball. Use it to line the base and sides of a buttered, 1.5-litre pudding basin.
3. Fill the pudding with half the cold butter cubes and half the sugar. Pop the whole lemons on top, then top with the rest of the sugar and butter. Roll out the smaller ball of dough to make a lid for the pudding (this will become the base so make it nice and thick). Brush the edges of the lid with water, put on top of the pudding and press to seal.
4. Cover with a circle of baking paper and tie under the rim of the basin with kitchen string to secure. Before cutting the string, take it up over the top to create a loose handle, then tie securely. Trim off any excess baking paper. Place the basin in a large pan and pour hot water into the pan until it reaches two-thirds of the way up its sides of the basin. Cover and simmer for 3 to 31/2 hours. Keep an eye on the water level, and top up as necessary. Allow the pudding to rest for 10 minutes before carefully turning out onto a serving dish. When serving, ensure everyone gets a little of the lemon. Serve with cream or ice cream.